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
- A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve
- Holistic Herbal, David Hoffman
- Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, Andrew Chevallier
- The Farmer’s Almanac
- photo credit: Yortw Day Three Hundred and Twenty Three – Pumpkin via photopin (license)
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.
