Check out these pumpkin facts.
Did early settlers dry pumpkin for mats.
The main meal of the day called dinner was served at what we know as lunchtime.
It included a couple of meats and side dishes plus desserts such as custards or cakes.
Settlers saw the uses and benefits and quickly added them as part of their own culture with the ultimate culmination coming in the form of the pumpkin spice latte obviously.
Whether they learned this from native americans is not known.
Early settlers used pumpkin in stews soups and desserts much as it is used today in most pumpkin growing countries.
Pumpkins are grown on every continent but antarctica.
Orange skinned round pumpkins are the most familiar varieties that fill pumpkin patches.
When the first white settlers arrived they witnessed this versatile plant and it soon became part of their diets too.
Flattened strips of pumpkin dried them and made mats.
When dry your mat will measure about 14 by 16 inches.
Some natives would employ pumpkins for other uses.
In addition to cooking with pumpkins they also dried the shells and cut strips to weave into mats.
Foods of early settlers 1850 1870.
This is considered the origin of the pumpkin pie.
The pumpkin is a variety of winter squash a member of the gourd family and comes in a variety of sizes shapes and colors the fruit grows on vines and is ready to be harvested in early autumn.
Early settlers made pumpkin pie by filling a hollowed out pumpkin shell with milk honey and spices then baking it.
Selection the most popular use of pumpkin is for decoration as jack o lanterns.
Early settlers dried pumpkins shells cut it into strips and wove it into mats.
The world s top producers of pumpkins include china india ukraine the united states egypt and mexico.
Pumpkin has been prepared in a variety of ways from soups to stews to desserts since the immigration of the first european settlers.
Early settlers ate pumpkin as a staple in their diet.
Most settlers rose early in the morning and started chores right away having only a drink of ale at first.
Not only did they dry strips of pumpkin for weaving into mats they also invented a form of fast food by roasting long strips of pumpkin on open fires.
Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin filling the shell with milk honey and spices and baking it.
Did you know there are other colors of pumpkins.
A fairly new fall decoration trend you may have noticed is white pumpkins.
Breakfast was served a little later after the first chores were done.
Colonist filled a hollowed out shell with milk honey and spices then baked it in hot ashes.
When the mat is completed secure by tucking ends under to conceal.
When the mat is woven pound it lightly.