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I found this article on the web, “Breaking up with Butternut,” and it got me to thinking. I’ve created an entire website dedicated to the pumpkin … I must have a relationship with this fruit. But what is it?

How do you define a relationship. In many ways it is your collection of memories about it. You know, like the time your Dad helped you write your name in the sand, or the time your grandmother shared cookies over a cup of tea. That kind of thing.

So, what are my memories of pumpkins?
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The other day I was at the grocery store and shopping for instant pudding mix. We have a new ice cream maker and I’m experimenting with different recipes, trying to perfect the the consistency and flavor that will make my husband happy. (He’s a big ice cream eater!)

Anyway, I noticed that Jello has their pumpkin spice flavor out. Usually that’s reserved for Fall, especially around Thanksgiving.

So, I wonder is there a pumpkin holiday coming up that I don’t know about?

The other day, as my husband was listening to one of his podcasts, it occurred to me that the world is so amazingly connected. The podcast was talking about the issue of bee die offs happening throughout the U.S. They even interviewed a pumpkin farmer about how bees were affecting his crops.

Also, to help me develop content for this blog, I have a Google Alert set for the keyword “pumpkin” and so I get a lot of news about how weather — both lack of rain and too much rain — are adversely affecting the pumpkin crops around the country.

When you hear about global climate change, does it occur to you that this might affect what kind of pie you’ll be able to serve with Thanksgiving dinner? If you don’t like honey, a bee die off might not catch your attention. But this simple fact actually might raise the prices of the vegetables in your local grocery store because the crops are smaller. Read more »

When I was a kid, my parents used to take me and my sister to the local pumpkin patch to find our very own pumpkins. We’d walk down the rows of vines, turning promising pumpkins around to see if they were just right on all sides. This was the first of the end-of-year traditions, the signal that celebrations aplenty were on their way.

I can still remember the feel of the pumpkin stem’s prickles in my fingers as we cut it from the vine. Then hefting our find back to the car and home to gut them and carve them into creepy creations.

Nowadays, I don’t think kids get that opportunity as often. Yes, there are still pumpkin patches, but they’re more remote and available to people who either live in a rural or semi-rural area or those who don’t mind driving a bit to get their pumpkins.
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