According to History.com, carving jack-o’-lanterns dates back hundreds of years ago to Ireland, where they were carved out of turnips or potatoes before Irish immigrants came to America and discovered the marvelous pumpkin. Pumpkins are a member of the gourd family, which includes melons, cantaloupe, watermelons, and zucchini. Indigenous North Americans – Indians – grew pumpkins for thousands of years before the arrival of colonists. “The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word Pepõn, which means large melon. It was then nasalized by the French into pompo, which the English changed pompon to pumpion and so on, until American settlers arrived at the word we use today.” The state of Illinois is the largest producer of pumpkins in the U.S. The world’s heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,749 pounds when it was presented by Travis Gienger (USA) (a horticulture teacher) at the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, USA, on October 9th, 2023. Yes, it’s officially in the Guinness World Records. Since the pumpkin was presented in 2023, Gienger named it Michael Jordan (#23 shirt number), because the pumpkin started out “basketball round”. The picture I saw of this pumpkin had a cute little teddy bear sitting on top of the stem in a Michael Jordan uniform.
A copy of the first-ever Spider Man comic book sold for $3.6 million (more than Superman’s) setting a new record as the world’s most valuable comic book. Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is showing at TUTS right now. It was really intense and really good. Headline: Stress is weathering our bodies from the inside out and helping fuel a decline in life expectancy. Saturday, I took an entire car full of recycling to Stella Roberts Recycling Center in Pearland, then I drove straight to Marble Slab and asked for a waffle cone and a big scoop of homemade vanilla to go. Sometimes you must reward yourself for a good deed. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) says their winter weather outlook forecast is expected to be dominated by the effects of a strong El Nino which could mean an unusually warm dry winter for the northern tier of the U.S., while the southeastern U.S. should see a wetter than average winter (high odds for above-average precipitation for the Gulf Coast).
This past week, I was cooking and pulled out a jar of sesame seeds from the dark spooky confines of my spice cabinet. I thought to myself, “these have been in that cabinet too long” so I opened the jar to dump into my compost container. They wouldn’t come out, so I ran my finger around the edge to help things along. The sesame seeds smelled and were old, stuck to the glass, so I turned the bottle around and saw there was a price tag for $1.49 on the side of the bottle. Hmmm. Nothing costs $1.49 in recent history on the spice aisle. I try to remember to date the bottles but this one got past me. I can’t be trusted.
So, let’s say next year you want to grow your own pumpkin. Here is what it says to do.
*A 900 lb. pumpkin could take 10 – 12 men to carry it to a scale, so most important, start today and meet many new friends that are strong, good lifters and carriers.
*Start with good seeds. They say Atlantic Giant will grow big pumpkins.
*Good soil. Composted cow and horse manure with chicken manure. Lots of organic matter.
*Good Luck. You must have very, very, good luck.
*Sow seeds four weeks before the last spring frost.
*Transplant seedlings once the first leaves appear. Protect seedlings for six weeks from wind and frost with a mini-greenhouse.
*Think Dr. Ruth. Eight to ten weeks after starting the seeds, the first female flowers will appear. You can tell because they have a small pumpkin at their base. Hmmm. Since we have killed countless numbers of our pollinators, you will need to hand-pollinate the flowers by getting up early in the morning to locate a freshly opened male flower. Remove the outer petals, exposing the stamen and fresh pollen. Locate a newly opened female flower and gently swab the stigma of the female flower with the stamen and pollen. You want to get a baby pumpkin started in the field before July 10. The earlier, the bigger the pumpkin. It is possible that pumpkins can gain 25 pounds a day. (not realistic, but possible)
*Position the pumpkin so stems are perpendicular to the vine.
*Select your pumpkin. Since one vine could have seven or eight pumpkins, and you can’t see yourself carrying more than one pumpkin to term, you can choose your best pumpkin and remove the rest.
*Prune vines. Bury the ends of cut vines to reduce water loss.
*Fertilize. Fertilize. Fertilize.
*Measure your pumpkin weekly if it’s contest worthy.
Now, if this seems like a lot of work then you’re right. Remember to value that cute little pumpkin, be more kind, considerate and appreciative when you put it into your grocery basket. Just think of what its owner went through to get that pumpkin to your front porch.
The Houston Chronicle is pretty expensive now, so I have it delivered just on Sunday mornings. This week there was an Apple Watch Tip worth the whole subscription price. If you already know this little tip, then just skip to the next paragraph… many people are math challenged, having a hard time figuring out what to tip. When my kids were growing up, I required them to take turns paying the restaurant bill and figuring out the tip themselves because I knew it would come easier to them with practice. On your Apple Watch, push the Digital Crown on the right to show the apps on your watch. Find the Calculator and tap it. Then you’ll see a TIP button. Enter the total restaurant bill amount, then tap that TIP button. It will give you a percentage choice by rotating the Digital Crown until you get to the amount you want to pay. Now this is the part that I love. If you are splitting the check, tap the lower field in order to change the number of people in your party from one to your party number. Rotate the Digital Crown again. There you go, you’ll see how much each person needs to chip in. OM Gosh. So easy.
Menopause has always been a very hush-hush discussion in society. Why? Instead of embracing the fact that we really want to live for a long time, we are ashamed of getting older. It’s the beginning of the end, so to speak. There is such stigma around aging, but hopefully things are changing. I was, hmmm … lucky, because I was in my late 40’s going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, and when that was finished, so was all the hype, my soap-opera menopause was done. No hot flashes, no nothing. Now, I don’t recommend this method, but there wasn’t really a choice at the time. Let’s face it, some really great things happen to us later in life. So, what is a menopause party? Instead of hiding in the deep freeze, women are now focusing on this new midlife chapter in life with better nutrition, talking with friends for support, advice and ideas, parties to celebrate, and just having fun. I know of several long-lost friends that would have loved to enjoy menopause with you, but they didn’t have the opportunity. Just thoughts.
The Barbie and Wednesday Addams costumes are not encouraged for striking actors this Halloween. The guild told members to choose neutral costumes inspired by generalized characters and figures – like a ghost, zombie, spider, etc. And don’t post the picture. Hmmm. What about Barbie the doll, and not Barbie the new movie? Teller is going to be a pickle. Headline: Can Vaccinations Save Your Brain? There’s growing evidence that getting your shots can lower dementia risk. Well, 62-year-old Mr. Mullet, Achy Breaky Heart, Old Town Road himself – Billy Ray Cyrus, married FireRose, a 34-year-old musician from Australia. There it is… why no woman wants to talk about menopause… because $%#@ men marry women half their age… just saying. The United Auto Workers union called a strike at GM’s SUV plant in Arlington this week. This is the facility where the Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Cadillac Escalade are manufactured. The Texas walkout brings the total number of auto workers striking GM, Ford, and Jeep parent company Stellantis, to around 45,000. That’s a lot of people and a lot of unbuilt vehicles. An 81-year-old Florida man has been ordered back to Canada where he’s charged with the fatal strangling of an American woman almost 50 years ago. He confessed to the killing in 2022 and was arrested at his assisted-living facility in Hollywood. Hmmm.
A very kind, sweet man, gentleman, father and husband, true friend and friend of many, passed away this week. Kevin L. Johnson, may you be as blessed in the next life, as I was in this one by knowing you, my friend.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
