Pumpkins: They’re fall’s favourite vegetable. Whether you love to eat them or just enjoy carving spooky faces into them, pumpkins have a fascinating history. They weren’t always the plump, orange gourds we know today. Originally from Mexico, pumpkins used to be a lot smaller, whiter, and even bitter.

 

So why did they catch on? Well, pumpkins were actually wanted for their thick flesh. Indigenous communities were known to roast pumpkin strips over the fire or dry the strips to be woven into mats. The vegetable became one of the first crops to be grown in North America, and visiting seafarers would often take them back to their own countries. They were even used during the first Thanksgiving where pilgrims wrote a poem to honour the vegetable for keeping them alive during the tough North American winters.

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