Q: How do you mend a broken jack-o-lantern?
A: With a pumpkin patch!
From that slight chill that has crept into the air to the oversized bags of candy now lining supermarket shelves, the evidence is all around us.
It's October and Halloween is here. With the potential for mischief and the sugar-laden treats, it's always been a favorite holiday for children. And with the economy in the shape it's in these days, many parents are probably glad to find something for free — even if it is just candy.
One of the lower-fat staples of the occasion is the pumpkin, which any other month of the year is not much more than an underrated squash and may be lucky to find its way into a pie.
But in October pumpkins move to center stage. They are carved, lit up and placed on front porches, ready to scare or delight the trick-or-treaters who come knocking.
Martin Tribble of the Old Time Farmers Market said pumpkins are normally harvested around the end of September or beginning of October, and most years he will sell about 1,500 pumpkins in the month leading up to Halloween.
This tends to be the trend nationwide, since about 80 percent of the annual pumpkin supply in the United States is sold in October.
Tribble said most of his stock of small to medium pumpkins are grown locally, but the larger ones come from Texas, because the climate there is more suitable to growing those types.
When selecting a pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern, try to find one with a shape that will fit the design you intend to carve into it. Otherwise, look for pumpkins that are uniformly orange and have no bruises or cuts.
For cooking purposes, Tribble said smaller sizes of pumpkins are best, but in October, most people are looking for pumpkins to carve, not eat.
"I would say 90 percent are for decorative purposes," Tribble said of his pumpkin sales.
Though pumpkins are native to North America, the tradition of carving them for decoration originated in Ireland.
A Celtic harvest celebration called Samhain, which meant "summer's end," was held on Oct. 31, and as part of the festivities, jack-o-lanterns made from turnips or gourds were placed on porches or in windows to welcome deceased loved ones and guard against bad spirits.
When the Irish began to settle in the United States, they brought this tradition with them, but they found that the American pumpkins were much more suitable for carving than turnips. And so began the custom we practice today.
For pumpkin carvers in the Mississippi Delta, where October can sometimes feel a little like July, one of the main concerns is keeping jack-o-lanterns fresh up until the big night.
To kill any bacteria and mold that may cause rotting, after carving spray the pumpkin inside and out with a solution made of one tablespoon bleach to one quart water. Let it dry for about 20 minutes and then rub all of the carved surfaces with petroleum jelly to keep new bacteria out.
Also, keep pumpkins out of direct sunlight to keep them as cool as possible.
And when Halloween is over, remember pumpkins can be used for something other than target practice or dumping on the trash heap. Bury pumpkins in the garden or compost pile for rich fertilizer, and save the seeds for planting or eating.
