Good Growing

This week on the Good Growing Podcast, Chris compares the essential fall flavors of apple and pumpkin. If you had to choose, what side would you fall on? Team Apple? Or Team Pumpkin?

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Chris Enroth: cenroth@illinois.edu
Ken Johnson: kjohnso@illinois.edu 


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Creators & Guests

Host
Chris Enroth
University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator serving Henderson, Knox, McDonough, and Warren Counties
Host
Ken Johnson
University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator serving Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Morgan, and Scott Counties

What is Good Growing?

Talking all things horticulture, ecology, and design.

00:00:00:20 - 00:00:14:13

00:00:14:13 - 00:00:16:06

00:00:16:06 - 00:00:24:04
Speaker 1
Welcome to the Good Going podcast. I am Chris and Ross, horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension coming at you from McComb, Illinois. And

00:00:24:04 - 00:00:38:07
Speaker 1
we have got a garden bike for you this week. I have to take a break from Ken this week so I can talk to you, dear listener viewer, about pumpkin spice. yes, pumpkin spice.

00:00:38:07 - 00:00:44:18
Speaker 1
I flavor that Ken adores and I will frankly can't stand

00:00:44:18 - 00:00:48:24
Speaker 1
why would so many people be upset about this? Yes.

00:00:48:24 - 00:01:06:16
Speaker 1
Illinois is the top grower and producer of pumpkins, pumpkin filling and all the other company products that fill our shelves this time of year. In fact, most of this production happens in one county in Illinois, Tazewell County, which is near Morton.

00:01:06:16 - 00:01:16:02
Speaker 1
as soon as somebody thinks of the word fall, it's our shelves in the grocery stores and our coffee shops start to fill with pumpkin each year.

00:01:16:02 - 00:01:29:14
Speaker 1
Pumpkin ish treats, if you can call them treats. Now, don't get me wrong, if someone puts a slice of pumpkin pie or a pumpkin muffin in front of me, I will eat it. It's no reason to let any food go to waste here.

00:01:29:14 - 00:01:49:21
Speaker 1
At a time of the year when everyone is divided and arguing with each other about everything, let's add to that then. Maybe this is the last straw for some of you, but I am far from anti autumn. I love the fall, but my flavor of choice is not pumpkin.

00:01:49:23 - 00:01:56:07
Speaker 1
In fact, it's apple. Yes, we are setting up camps for apple versus pumpkin.

00:01:56:07 - 00:02:20:15
Speaker 1
So why apples? Well, first off, they are delicious, except for red. Delicious. Which of course I love apples, but I can admit when something tastes like cardboard. Plus, have you ever eaten a freshly picked apple right off the tree That crisp crunch as the sweet juice runs down on your arm, You're walking down the orchard lane.

00:02:20:15 - 00:02:29:03
Speaker 1
The cold chill in the air keeps that perk in your step. Try eating a pumpkin off the vine. Guess what? You can't

00:02:29:03 - 00:02:38:01
Speaker 1
Plus, I think we might need to check the books. I don't know if it's legal to not like apple pie. Sorry, pumpkin pie.

00:02:38:03 - 00:02:42:24
Speaker 1
I feel like your texture is like eating silky mud.

00:02:42:24 - 00:02:50:15
Speaker 1
And of course, there's apple cider. Need I say more? is that a pumpkin ale that you're holding? Way to ruin beer.

00:02:50:15 - 00:03:07:24
Speaker 1
One very common argument people will give in support of apples is this fruit is an American tradition. But here's where I must fairly preside over these two fall flavors apples that we typically will grow to eat are not native to North America.

00:03:08:01 - 00:03:12:22
Speaker 1
Yet our pumpkins have been cultivated by Native Americans for generations

00:03:12:22 - 00:03:16:07
Speaker 1
before any European settlers set foot on this continent.

00:03:16:07 - 00:03:24:04
Speaker 1
So you have me there. In terms of which camp hails from this part of the world, pumpkins are more American than any apple,

00:03:24:04 - 00:03:30:18
Speaker 1
Plus pumpkin production supports a lot of jobs and is a major industry for Illinois.

00:03:30:20 - 00:03:47:17
Speaker 1
Also, everyone else in my house loves pumpkin pie and apple pie. In fact, I think mostly as a show of gluttony, my children will request both for their plates. So I guess in that light, maybe pumpkins aren't that bad after all.

00:03:47:17 - 00:03:58:15
Speaker 1
Maybe we don't have to choose. Maybe both Apple and pumpkin have their place in our society. Even if you won't find pumpkin flavored items on my plate, you will certainly see it.

00:03:58:15 - 00:04:00:19
Speaker 1
And a readily enjoyed by those around me.

00:04:00:19 - 00:04:15:24
Speaker 1
And you know, if there is ever any leftover pumpkin pie on my kid's plate, I can't just throw it away. Someone has to eat it. No food goes to waste. I'm going to need a lot of whipped cream, though.

00:04:15:24 - 00:04:20:20
Speaker 1
what is great about pumpkins is that we can often grow these in our backyard.

00:04:21:01 - 00:04:51:16
Speaker 1
If you wanted to grow an apple in your backyard, well, you'd have to buy an apple tree and not just one. You'd have to have multiple apple trees so that you have pollinate users and all all the other things that comes with growing a tree. So pumpkins pretty easy to grow considering we can plant the seed early in the summer and wind up with a nice winter squash that we can either store, eat or carve up in celebration of our fall season.

00:04:51:18 - 00:05:10:24
Speaker 1
But if you're growing your own pumpkins, vine health is critical, especially if you're going to grow storage pumpkins, pie pumpkins or those lovely jack lanterns, often a pumpkin pulled from a sickly or dead vine has a shorter shelf life than one cut from a healthy vines. Good thing to know

00:05:10:24 - 00:05:16:18
Speaker 1
that was an interesting debate about the merits of pumpkin versus apple.

00:05:16:20 - 00:05:44:13
Speaker 1
Well, Illinois Station has a lot of information. If you're interested in growing your own pumpkins or your own apples in your backyard, I'll link to some of those resources down below in the show notes. But would you say perhaps the best fall flavor is just cinnamon sugar? I could probably eat that out all year though. Well, the Good Growth podcast is a production of University of Illinois Extension, edited this week by me, Kristin Roth.

00:05:44:15 - 00:06:02:04
Speaker 1
Hey, we will be back again with a full episode as I sit down with Ken Johnson, another good growing episode. So look for that coming up next week. Well, listeners, thank you for doing what you do best and that is listening. Or if you're watching this on YouTube, watching and as always, keep on growing.

00:06:02:04 - 00:06:12:02

00:06:12:02 - 00:06:15:09