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Pumpkins are a staple of the autumn season, used in events like Halloween and Thanksgiving as symbols of the holidays as well as in various culinary dishes. Pumpkins, which are technically a fruit and not a vegetable, are one of the oldest domesticated plants in the world and have been used for centuries in various ways. It also had a role in the creation of pumpkin spice, which today can be found in almost everything. Learn more about pumpkins and why the fruit has become such a symbol on on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile. If you're a regular listener, you know that I spent over a decade traveling all over the world. During my travels, I would often get mobile plans for my phone, and I noticed that almost everywhere in the world had much, much cheaper phone plans than what had in the United States. That all changed with Mint Mobile. With Mint, you can get monthly plans that start at just $15 a month. That's why I recommend Mint Mobile. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your own phone number along with your existing contacts. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no. No contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, and no bs. Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch@mintmobile.comeed that's mintmobile.comeed upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month limited time. New customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabits on unlimited plan tax and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.
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False. True.
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False.
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That's gotta be true again.
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Carvana will pick up your car from your door or you can drop it off at one of their car vending machines.
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It's pumpkin season, so I think that it's finally time to cover the history of the pumpkin. Pumpkins are part of the Gourd family, or the Cucurbitaceae family, along with squash, melons, cucumbers and zucchini. A pumpkin is a type of winter squash. One thing to note is that all pumpkins are types of squash, but not all squash are types of pumpkins. The pumpkins that we normally associate with the term are classified as the species Cucurbita pepo. These pumpkins have thick shells that hold seeds and pulp. The Cucurbita pipo variants typically weigh between 6 to 18 pounds or 3 to 8 kilograms, but they can get much, much, much larger, as we'll see in a bit. The shells are often orange, but can also be yellow, white or green in color. The outer shell is smooth with slight ribs on its skin. Contrary to popular belief, pumpkins are a fruit and not a vegetable. People typically assume the opposite because of how pumpkins are generally consumed and their appearance. Pumpkins are also actually a type of berry known as a pepo. They're classified as berries because the fruit develops from one flower. The term pipo is used for the gourd family because of their hard rinds and large number of seeds. Pumpkins are among the oldest known domesticated plants with Cucurbita domestication traced back between 7,000 and 5,500 B.C. these plants were native to North America and have been cultivated by the tribes there longer than crops like beans and corn. The earliest evidence of pumpkin cultivation was found in the Gila Naquiz cave in Mexico. Inside the cave, they found pumpkin seeds, and these seeds are from the same variety of pumpkin that we use today. These seeds were smaller, more bitter and harder, but this was actually beneficial to the Native Americans in the area because the fruit was better equipped to survive the winter. Pumpkins are considered to be part of the three sisters. This tradition involved planting three crops together in a shared place. The sisters were maize, beans and squash, or pumpkin. When these plants are put together, they work to nourish and protect each other as part of the three sisters traditions. Pumpkins were one of the primary crops grown by Native Americans and were a staple food in ancient American civilizations, including the Maya and Aztecs. Native Americans used different parts of the pumpkins in different ways. They would boil and roast the fruit for food, grind up the pumpkins to make different powders, or hollow the fruit out to use the shell as containers. For many Native American tribes, pumpkins were not a seasonal food item like they are today. Instead, they were a year round staple of their diets. Pumpkins and squash were introduced to the Europeans in the Old World by Christopher Columbus, who first brought them back from his 1492 voyage. Though Columbus was the first to bring pumpkins back to Europe, it was actually the Portuguese who spread pumpkins worldwide. The Portuguese brought pumpkins to their colonies and trading settlements in China, Africa and Japan. When European colonists began Settling in the New World, pumpkins further cemented their status as a culinary staple. A good example of this was with the Pilgrims. The first Thanksgiving was a celebration by the native Wampanoag people and the Pilgrims to mark a successful harvest. As part of the celebration, both groups brought food, including pumpkins. It's likely that the Pilgrims already knew what pumpkins were when they were first offered, and the fruit later became a staple in the diets of colonists. Colonists made desserts by hollowing out pumpkins and filling them with spiced or sweetened milk. They would then boil the concoction and drink straight from the gourd. Another colonial treat was made by scooping out the pumpkin seeds and filling the inside of the fruit with eggs, honey, cream, and spices. After the inside was filled, it was cooked and scooped out along with the pumpkin's flesh to make a pumpkin pie without the crust. Pumpkin soup or soup jaumeu became a symbol of freedom in Haiti after independence in 1804. Under French rule, enslaved Haitians were forbidden to eat it because it was reserved for the slave owners. After gaining their freedom, Haitians made and shared the soup as a celebration of liberation and equality, a tradition still honored every January 1st on Haiti's independence Day. Pumpkins wouldn't assume a symbolic role in American culture until the 19th century. At this point, the fruit became synonymous with abundance and harvest. This was further cemented when Thanksgiving became a national holiday, making pumpkins a key part of the holiday tradition. With desserts like pumpkin pie, there are two theories of how we adopted the word pumpkin. The first states that the word pumpkin came from the Greek word papan, meaning large melon. This term passed into Latin as pepo, then into Old French as pompon, and then finally into English as Pompeian in the early 16th century, which later morphed into pumpkin. Another explanation for the origin of the word pumpkin is that it originated from Native Americans. This explanation states that the word pumpkin came from the Massachusetts word po phu kon, which meant grows fourth round. The theory says that when the Wampanoag people, who spoke a dialect of Massachusetts, introduced the Pilgrims to pumpkins, they used the term Popocan. Pumpkins are planted from late May to mid July in the Northern Hemisphere. To grow, the soil needs to be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and have ample water. After planting, pumpkins tend to grow plentiful, regardless of whether the vine or leaves are broken or removed. This is because the plant will quickly regrow any vines to replace any problems that it may have. Pumpkins typically take 90 to 120 days to grow, meaning that they are usually ready for harvest in October. At this time, pumpkins are usually a bright orange color. Pumpkins are a valuable crop for farmers to grow. They thrive in most climates, don't require large amounts of water, and can help improve soil for other crops which can be grown with them. Pumpkins are grown today on every continent except Antarctica. Different types of pumpkins are grown to meet each country's specific demands. The top country for pumpkin production is actually China, which produces nearly 7.5 billion pumpkins annually. Other countries that produce large quantities of pumpkins include India, Ukraine, Russia, and then the United States. The largest pumpkin ever grown is a giant pumpkin weighing 2,819 pounds or 1,200 pounds grown by the twin brothers Ian and Stuart Patton in the United Kingdom. This record breaking pumpkin named Muggle also had a circumference of over 21ft or 6.4 meters and was officially weighed on October 6, 2025. In modern times, pumpkins are most recognizable for their association with the autumn season and Halloween. The practice of carving pumpkins for Halloween originates from the Irish myth about a man named Stingy Jack. This myth was first printed in the 19th century. The tale of Stingy Jack revolved around a man named, you guessed it, Jack. In the story, he invites the devil to have a drink with him. Not wanting to pay for drinks, Stingy Jack stays true to his name and convinces the devil to turn into a coin. The devil does so, but instead of paying for the drinks with the coin, Jack pockets the coin and places it next to a silver cross, making it impossible for the devil to change back to his normal form. Jack eventually frees the devil under the condition that he would not be bothered by the devil for a year and that when Jack died, the devil would not claim his soul. The following year, the devil returns and Jack once again tricks him. This time, Jack has the devil climb into a tree to pick fruit. Once in the tree, Jack carves a cross on it so the devil couldn't come down the tree without agreeing not to bother Jack for 10 more years. Later, when Jack dies, the legend states that God did not allow him into heaven due to his unsavory activities. Additionally, the devil kept his promise and wouldn't allow Jack into hell. Jack was sent into the night with nothing but a piece of burning coal for light. Jack carved out a turnip and placed the coal within it, roaming the earth with his turnip ever since. This earned Jack the name Jack of the Lantern and later Jack o' Lantern in both Ireland and Scotland, people began making their own Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips and placing them on their windows or doors. The tradition was also done in England, but they mostly used beets. They believed that doing so would scare away wandering or evil spirits like Stingy Jack. People who immigrated from these countries brought the tradition with them. Specifically in the United States, they adopted native pumpkins for carving, changing the previous tradition of pumpkin carving from being generally associated with autumn to one being uniquely associated with Halloween. Pumpkins are a popular food today, with trends around the fruit continuing to evolve. One notable recent development is in drinks with flavors like pumpkin spice and we can't talk about pumpkin spice without mentioning the pumpkin spice craze. This actually began in 2003 when Starbucks commercialized pumpkin spice flavoring. Before 2003, pumpkin spice simply referred to a spice blend used in pumpkin pie. This blend consisted of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. This combination had been used for centuries in American baking by this point, and you might have noticed there is no pumpkin in pumpkin spice. It wasn't until the 1930s that companies began manufacturing pumpkin pie spice as its separate product. The new product was revolutionary as consumers could buy blended spice mixtures instead of buying the spices individually. Though the product was intended for pumpkin pie, the spices were used elsewhere as well. Starbucks likely did not originate pumpkin spice lattes, but they did market them and made it the popular autumn staple that we see today. Using seasonal nostalgia, they associated the drink with feelings of fall and comfort. This feeling, along with the drink's limited availability and targeted social media ads, helped create the pumpkin spice craze. Beyond being a symbol for autumn holidays, pumpkins have developed cultural significance in places beyond the United States. In Mexico, pumpkin seeds are a key ingredient in many dishes and are also used in culturally significant celebrations such as the Day of the Dead. During the celebration, pumpkins are often used in festive dishes to offer to deceased loved ones. In China, pumpkins are used for medicinal purposes and in cuisine. In traditional Chinese medicine, pumpkins are believed to warm the body, boost immunity, and help with digestive issues in cooking. They have become popular in dishes served in the fall and winter. In Europe, as in the Americas, pumpkins are associated with the autumn harvest and are used to make food. In Eastern European countries, pumpkins are still used in rituals to ward off spirits and placed in front of homes to bring good luck. Pumpkins have developed an enormous amount of utility. Not only are they used as a food all around the world, but they also have a symbolism and cultural importance that most foods do not. All of our Jack o' Lanterns and pumpkin pies can all be traced back to Native Americans who figured out how to domesticate the pumpkin over 7,000 years ago. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kieffer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ashe. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible, and I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. This is where everything happens that's outside of the show. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you too can have it read on the show.