Oh My Gourd!

The cornucopia. The autumnal bounty. The harvest.  Fall is the season of abundance as the fields are heavy with ripened late-season vegetables at the peak of flavor. It is also the time when pumpkins, squash and gourds are ready for harvesting.

Wikipedia defines pumpkins as a “gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae (which also includes gourds)”. Let’s ignore the fact that Wikipedia has just told us that a pumpkin is both ‘gourd-like’ and a ‘gourd’ and talk about what we really want to talk about: The Biggest Pumpkin Contests! It’s kind of like obesity, but in the plant family so we don’t need to avert our eyes or be afraid.