It wouldn’t feel like fall without the arrival of those plump orange pumpkins growing among rambling vines on farms and in gardens across Alabama.

Pumpkins, a type of squash, are in the cucumber/gourd family, according to Dr. Joe Kemble, a horticulturist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

Most pumpkins are native to the United States and were eaten by Native Americans long before Europeans arrived on the scene. For years, Americans have enjoyed eating the rich, nutritious vegetable alone or baked into yummy pies and breads. In recent years, however, their commercial value has skyrocketed as carving jack-o-lanterns out of the big, orange veggie has become the hallmark of Halloween.

"About 95 percent of pumpkins are used for jack-o-lanterns," says Kemble. But all are edible. Even the small pumpkins taste great when they’re baked like a potato."

Pumpkins are grown throughout Alabama, thriving on the state’s hot summers and warm autumns. Most are planted in June or July so they’ll be ready to be harvested by mid-October – in time for Halloween, says Kemble.

"Pumpkins don’t tolerate frost or freeze at all," he says. They need to be planted in warm weather. With Alabama’s hot weather, they usually grow a lot quicker than the seed packets or catalog says they will."

Kemble says pumpkins need a lot of room to grow and should be planted with plenty of space between them so their vines have room to roam.

"When purchasing pumpkin seeds in packets or ordering them through a catalog, read carefully to see how big the vines will get," he says. "Bush or short vine types should be planted with about 3 to 5 feet between each row and 2 to 3 feet apart within

the row. Large-vine types with small fruits should have 6 to 8 feet between rows and 3 to 5 feet within the rows. Large-vine types with large fruits need at least 6 to 8 feet between rows and 3 to 5 feet within rows."

Seeds should be planted to a depth of 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches, he says.

For more information about growing pumpkins, contact your local county Extension agent.

SOURCE: Dr. Joe Kemble, (jkemble@aces.edu), Extension Horticulturist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-3050