A Description of Autumn, Especially the Pumpkins
Written By: Amy Li
Image from Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
It’s officially fall season (it may not seem so because the weather isn't cooperating, but it is), and that at least means all the supposed-to-be-happening wonders of autumn: flame-like trees, colorful skies, and, of course, pumpkins.
The trees and their falling leaves provide a strong contrast to the bright, sunny greens of spring and summer, and are some of the most recognizable fall scenery. They decorate the trees with new colors and they can be piled up so you can jump into them.
The clear autumn skies are calming and vast, the breezes are cool, and the clouds seem extra light and colorful. There’s that specific feeling that comes with autumn and its trees and skies, almost wistful but at the same time very promising.
But let’s not forget the pumpkins. Pumpkins show up in all sorts of autumn happenings from pumpkin patches and decorations to jack-o-lanterns. They make autumn, well, autumn. They come in all sorts of colors and shapes and have their own history. They are part of the cucurbitaceae family which is also home to other melons. They were so commonly used among the American colonists that some of the colonists in America might have been the ones to first call a pumpkin a pumpkin – they were originally called a pumpion.
Outside, they’re orange, and inside that means that they are full of beta carotene which gives you vitamin A and antioxidants, as well as other essential vitamins and minerals, protecting against inflammation, vision problems, heart disease, and much more. Even their seeds are edible!
Pumpkins themselves are amazing, offering a wide range of nutritional and health benefits, besides providing an impeccable autumn aesthetic. But whether in pancakes to pie to just plain pumpkin, pumpkins have become essential to the autumn scene and it would be hard to imagine fall without them.
Autumn is sometimes a very interesting season – while spring and summer represent growth and winter is seemingly the opposite, autumn also suggests growth, harvest, and potential, even though it signals the beginning of the colder season. Maybe that’s why it is so special.
Sources
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279610#benefits
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23107-vitamin-a-deficiency
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/pumpkin-recipes
https://ipm.missouri.edu/meg/2013/10/Pumpkin-A-Brief-History/
https://www.britannica.com/plant/pumpkin
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-pumpkins
