Nothing signals autumn like the pumpkin

By Rick Houser – 

As autumn, or as I always heard it called fall, progresses so do the changes that come with it. Of course there are the shorter, crisper days and the cooler nights. In its beginning the season doesn’t move very fast. I suppose the surprise of cold and drab is saved until the near end. School is well under way and the events that come with autumn have begun. There are many festivals that take place in the fall. They range anywhere from harvest themes to Oktoberfest. These come too early, but they are trying to take advantage of the milder weather. However, there is one characteristic of fall that is included in every aspect of the season.
That of course would be the pumpkin. There is nothing that signals autumn like the pumpkin. I know that the past few weeks I have heard many different commercials that include the pumpkin. I can’t really think of anything that has been around longer or has been a bigger symbol to this time of year than the pumpkin. Looking back, I remember that we were more involved in the pumpkin tradition than I realized.
In the spring when we planted our fields of corn and before farmers used herbicides, Dad would fill his corn planter with seed and fertilizer. He would sprinkle pumpkin and squash seeds into the fertilizer bin as well. This was so that when he planted his main crop of corn, he was also planting crops of pumpkin and squash. It seemed that by doing this the corn would offer protection to the pumpkin and squash plants and they would grow quite abundantly. As the years passed and I grew older I was handed the responsibility of sprinkling those seeds in the fertilizer box. I took this responsibility with great seriousness.
After the corn was planted and it had grown the thought of a second crop faded. Only when Dad and the corn picker would enter the field did the thought of that second crop return to our minds. In those days, Dad was using a Wood Brothers one row corn picker. This was a piece of equipment that was a leader in its field, since this area was still picking corn on the ear and not shelling it yet. With that being the case, the second crop was still able to be harvested this way.
It was my job to put the seeds into the fertilizer bin in the spring.At harvest time it was also my duty to walk through the fields and seek out the pumpkins and the squash. I took this duty seriously, as it was needed. Sometimes I would miss one and it would go through the picker and land in the wagon, a crushed mess. Because of this, I was to try my best to keep the picker from out doing me. So I would look as hard as I could. I know that some years I would harvest nearly a third of a box bed wagon of pumpkins and squash. I was proud of this accomplishment.
What I learned later was that Dad wanted me to harvest as many as possible for two reasons; first, several folks would stop by to ask for a pumpkin so they could carve a jack-o-lantern. Second, was to be certain that my Mom had plenty of pumpkins and squash to pick from so she could have the best ingredients to make pumpkin pie. My dad loved pumpkin pie. He knew he had a wife who could bake the perfect pie when given the right ingredients.
I didn’t know it at the time,but I was in charge of a very important part of our fall harvest. As I gathered the pumpkins and lined them up by size and look, my mom took more interest in the squash. She later told me that squash tasted like pumpkin only it was sweeter and easier to work into the pie. Even though I was stunned to learn a pumpkin tasted like a squash I would still work hard at making certain that Mom got a great selection of squash. I decided back then I wasn’t going to tell that she used a different ingredient.
So as Dad picked the corn and our hired hand, Wilbur, hauled it to the crib to be stored, I harvested the squash and pumpkin. This made me proud. Because I gathered them, I got to lay them out in the front yard and decide how they would be handled. I wasn’t much of a salesman as I gave almost all of them away. I felt it was neat to be able to provide a pumpkin that a person could carve a scary face into. Dad always called them cow pumpkins, perhaps because they were more of a flatter shape.
All I know is we had many pumpkins and many folks asked to have one. Maybe the best of all was that we would take all of the pumpkins and squash that didn’t get picked or used and we would load them up and take to the cow pasture and give them all to the cows. I believe our cows felt that we gave them the best trick-or-treat that any cow had ever experience. I can still see the cows having a feast! It may have been the best part of the harvest.
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to tell stories from his past and other topics. If you might be interested in reading more of his stories he has two books published. “There are Places I remember” and “Memories Are From the Heart.” He can be reached at Houser [email protected]. Or mail to P.O. Box 213 Bethel, Ohio 45106.