Pumpkin

Botanical Name: Curcurbit pepo | Family: Cucurbitaceae

Common name(s): Pumpkin

GROWING

  • Annual vegetable | Zones 3-9 |  | Sprawling vines, orange fruit
  • Full sun | Very rich, nutrient soil

HARVESTING

Parts used: Seeds and pulp

Harvest in autumn, when the pumpkin is ripe (turns orange). Use fresh seeds (discard after 30 days).

PREPARATION / DOSAGE

Infusion: Pour 1 pint of boiling water over 1 ounce of seeds. (Used for urinary complaints.)

Mash: Beat 2 ounces of seeds with sugar/honey and enough water or milk to make a pint. Drink in 3 doses, every two hours, while fasting. Follow a couple of hours later with a dose of castor oil. (Used for internal parasites.)

MEDICAL

Constituents: fixed oil, protein, sterols, cucurbitin, vitamin E, beta-carotene, minerals (iron, zinc, selenium).

Actions: Anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic

Uses: internal parasites, enlargement of the prostate gland

SOURCES 


Here’s an interesting tidbit. I brought some pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), which I had spiced up, to my daughter’s house. My son-in-law ate a lot and told me the next day he had the weirdest dreams he’d ever had and asked “what was in those pumpkin seeds?” Come to find out, via google, they can induce vivid dreaming.