Know your pumpkins before you choose one

With Halloween looming just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about pumpkins. Well, the day might not be just around the corner, but it is getting close and the grocery stores are starting to carry pumpkins to go with the orange and black candy packages that have been on the shelves since mid-August. Most of us simply go to the store to pick out out pumpkins. And why not, they are readily available and fairly cheap. But for the rest of us, say those who might have a slight obsession with pumpkins, it is no small task to choose just the right pumpkin(s) for our Halloween designs. For that population, which I will admit I am a member, the pumpkin selection could take weeks.

Pumpkins are not all created equal. There are hundreds of varieties of the orange globes. There is the Cucurbita Moschata, pumpkins best suited to cooking, these are often smaller and denser than the typical Halloween variety. The traditional Halloween pumpkins are called Cucurbita Pepo, these are the the medium sized, bright orange globes that are not too dense, making it easy to cut into them. Cucurbita Maxima, as the name might imply, are the monster pumpkins you see at county fairs. Pumpkins also come in all sorts of shapes and colors. There are white pumpkins and deep, dark red pumpkins. Some are quite elongated while others look to be squished flat into a donut shape. If you happen to be interested in a more off beat sort of pumpkin, a farmer's market is likely the best place for you to begin your quest.

I have yet to choose my pumpkin(s) for this year's Halloween design. I am thinking I might go for one the dark red pumpkins, but then again the lure of the Cucurbita Maxima is always quite a draw....

Source