Pumpkin season arrives as fall tradition takes root

Pumpkins are coming out of the fields and showing up on street corners all over Lapeer County, like this one on Imlay City Road at Lake Pleasant Road in Lapeer County.

First grown by indigenous Mexicans around 7,000 BC, more than 38 million tons of the orange squash were grown worldwide last year alone.

The Irish and Scots carved turnip and rutabagas into lanterns as part of their Samhain celebrations, but when they arrived in America in the 19th century, they switched to pumpkins and by 1837 they were calling them jack-o’-lanterns.

It wasn’t until 1866 that they became associated with Halloween.