Introduction
(Cucurbita sp. -- Family Cucurbitaceae)
Although all three are closely related members of the Gourd family and classified as fruits, they are used for vastly different purposes. Pumpkins are often used as a fruit, while the other two are used as vegetables. Gourds can be used as a food or such useful items as water bottles, decorations, or musical instruments. In the vast majority of cases, it is the fruits that are eaten and not any other part of the plant. The Cucurbitaceae family consists of about 100 genera and 850 species of mostly creeping vines and bushes indigenous chiefly to the topics, subtropics, and moderately warm latitudes. A few members occur in the wild in temperate zones. The fruit of the species, with which most are familiar, belong to the genera Cucumis (eg. melons and cucumber), Cucurbita (eg. pumpkin/squash), and Citrullus (eg. watermelon). In the tropics, fruits from the genera Lagenaria (eg. gourd), Luffa (eg. sponges), Momordica (eg. balsam apple/pear), Sechium (eg. chayote), and Trichosanthes (eg. snake gourd) are also cultivated. The fruits of all species are used in the human diet. Their weights can range from just a few ounces to giant varieties which can reach almost 1,000 pounds.
Squash is an abbreviation of the native North American Indian word "askutasquash" meaning 'eaten raw or cooked'. It is a term that is used interchangably with the pumpkin in many countries of the Americas, but generally embraces numerous members of the genus Cucurbita. The squashes originated in the Americas and are believed to have been cultivated for as long as 10,000 years, but arrived in Europe only after the discovery of the New World. Wild forms were originally gathered for their seeds and were only later found to have tasty flesh. The seeds were used as food, but also pounded into a meal and mixed with oatmeal and applied to the face to bleach freckles and other blemishes. In Ethiopia, squash seeds are used as laxatives and purgatives; and, worldwide, the seeds are used to expel intestinal parasites. By the 17th century, the seeds were mashed and used in bread or boiled and heavily buttered.
The shapes and colors for pumpkins and squash are as varied as the fruit themselves. They can be long and slim, round and fat, smooth, or with ridges. Their size ranges from huge to tiny enough to hold in your hand. Colours can be various shades of orange, green, turqoise, white, yellow, black, or metallic blue. Generally speaking, the larger the seed that is planted, the bigger the squash or pumpkin. Squashes, pumpkins, and gourds are usually classified into certain groups: winter, summer, and vegetable marrows (gourds).
Winter squash is a name applied to the fruits that are allowed to mature on the vine and then stored for use in the winter. In other words, their shells are tough enough to keep the flesh for longer periods of time. Summer squash is a term used for those varieties which are eaten fresh in season because their soft skins will not permit long storage. Summer squash tend to be more watery, while the winter types are fleshier and drier. Gourds are the type of squash found mainly in Asia and Africa and the hotter zones of the world. Although they can be used as food, these tend to be grown more for other uses.
Squash and pumpkins usually grow on vines, but some grow on bushy-type plants, producing separate male and female flowers on the same plant which are pollinated by bees. In order to have a nicely shaped fruit, a bee must visit the same flower as many as thirty times. As is often the case, bees will visit other nearby plants, resulting in cross-pollination and the creation of a new variety of fruit. It is not uncommon for a fruit to result as a cross between a pumpkin, hubbard squash, and zucchini, for example, if these are grown in close proximity to each other. These fruits usually require much room to develop, especially the larger varieties. Some require as much as forty square feet of room per pumpkin while smaller ones need only about twenty square feet. They also require considerable amounts of water, but the water needs to drain well; otherwise, the fruit will rot. Most growers "hill" or mound up the earth around the plants so that the water will run off.
Like most plants, pumpkins and squash do have enemies. The main pest is the 'squash vine borer', a white worm that burrows into the stem at the base of the plant, causing the whole plant to die. In order to get rid of it, gardeners will take a knife and cut it out of the plant and then cover the area up with dirt so that new roots will grow in that place, thereby strengthening the plant. But when there is a big field of pumpkins or squash, the farmer cannot go around cutting out all the worms, so he sprays the field with pesticides. This solution lasts for only one season and has to be repeated. Rather than using companion planting and crop rotation to rid the area of the pest permanently, this seemingly easy, but temporary, solution is chosen. There are also such other problems as mildew or mold and leaf spotting. These result in the death of the plant because the chlorophyll in the leaf is blocked from the sun and unable to make the nutrients the plant needs.
The most helpful insect for squash and pumpkins is a special bee called a "hoary squash bee". It is found from Canada to Central America. The squash bee does not go to other plants like the cucumbers, canteloupes, or watermelon to pollinate them, they like only squash and pumpkins. Without these plants, the squash bee will die. This particular bee does not live in hives but, instead, lives alone in such undisturbed ground as along fencelines or the edges of fields. Burrowing underground, the squash bee makes a long, pencil-like tunnel where it creates little rooms to store the collected pollen. Squash bees lay only one egg at a time. Males hatch and leave just before the females emerge. Squash bees are smaller than the honeybee and fuzzier, and have bands of grey and brown. The females work from just before dawn to noon and then spend the rest of the day and night in their burrows. The males are gone all day looking for food and mates. They rarely sting and have to be really provoked before they will; but, even then, their sting is just a tiny pick. Pumpkin growers prefer this bee as their crops are bigger and better than if only the honeybee does the pollinating.
Pumpkins and squash are very nutritious, although winter squash tends to be more so. Depending on the variety, and despite having a high water content (some as much as 95%), they will contain varying amounts of protein, iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, some B vitamins, and vitamins A, C, and E. The more orangey the colour is inside, the more beta carotene (vitamin A) it contains. The seeds are also are very nutritious and contain a dark green, highly aromatic essential oil. They are good to eat raw or roasted. One ounce of dry pumpkin seeds provides seven grams of protein, which is equal to a similar serving of meat or eggs. The squash flowers are also quite edible and nutritious. They are delicious when stuffed with a bean and vegetable filling, the petals twisted closed, and then dipped in batter and fried in olive oil until crispy brown -- stems included. Pumpkins/squash can be baked, steamed, or microwaved in their skin. Once cooked, the flesh can be scooped out and used as is or combined with other foods, spices, and herbs and used in any number of dishes.
