Students in the preschool classes at the Kuemper Catholic School System recently learned about many different uses for pumpkins, outside of carving them up for Halloween. Three morning classes and two in the afternoon were given the chance to explore pumpkins, inside and out, and learn how the pulp can be used to make pumpkin pie, soups and breads, the seeds can be cooked and eaten and the rind can be used to feed wildlife or backyard animals. Melanie Bruck, with Loess Hills Agriculture in the Classroom, brought several resources with her that included pictures of different sized pumpkins, from the very small to the very large. She shared the names for different varieties, such as Baby Boo, Fairytale, Full Moon and Cinderella, and she showed them that pumpkins aren’t always orange. Julie Von Glan, office administrator for Carroll County Farm Bureau, assisted with the program and passed out paper plots and seeds for the students to practice planting as they learned exactly how to do it for optimum growth. “Even in rural communities, generations of families are starting to get further away from the farm,” Glan says. “Without a direct link to the farm, it can be difficult for children to understand how the food that reaches their plate got its start.” Each student then got the chance to feel the inside of a pumpkin and snack on some roasted seeds.
