Halloween With The Liles At Roger's Gardens 2025

Did You Know? - Green pumpkins exist as both unripe stages of typically orange pumpkins and as distinct varieties like the 'Marina di Chioggia' or 'Kabocha' squash.

As a pumpkin grows, its green color is due to chlorophyll, which breaks down and allows orange carotenoid pigments to become visible as it ripens. While many varieties turn orange, some stay green or have a striped green appearance, and they are all edible, with the skin, flesh, and seeds being edible.

How Green Pumpkins Grow

Unripe Phase: All pumpkins start out as green due to the presence of chlorophyll, the same pigment that gives leaves their green color.

Ripening Process: As the pumpkin matures, the chlorophyll breaks down, revealing the underlying pigments, often the orange carotenoids responsible for the classic pumpkin color.

Ripeness Indicators: A pumpkin is considered ripe and ready to be harvested when the vine starts to die and the color has changed to its mature hue. Varieties and

Characteristics Distinct Varieties: Beyond being an unripe stage, some pumpkin and squash varieties naturally grow to be green, including the dark green, bumpy Italian heirloom 'Marina di Chioggia' and the sweet, often striped Asian 'Kabocha'.

Color Variations: While some green pumpkins are a uniform color, others might have speckled stripes or a lighter green shade. Edibility and Uses Whole Plant is

Edible: The entire pumpkin plant is edible, including the flesh, skin, leaves, and seeds.

Culinary Uses: Green pumpkins have a firm, starchy texture similar to a potato and can be used in soups, savory dishes, and even some desserts.

Baking Pumpkin Seeds: The seeds, when baked or fried, are a nutritious and tasty snack.

Green pumpkins have evolved over time due to both natural and man-made factors. While their color is usually orange, people once thought they could get rid of freckles by putting mashed up pumpkin on their faces.

Did You Know? - Decorative smoke from fog and haze machines:

The fog produced by theatrical equipment, which is often used interchangeably with the word "smoke," is created by heating a special fluid.

How it works: A pump pushes a mixture of water and glycol or glycerin through a heat exchanger. The fluid vaporizes and is expelled through a nozzle as an opaque, aerosolized cloud.

Trivia:

Fog vs. haze: A fog machine produces a thick, dense cloud for dramatic effects. A haze machine produces a fine, less-dense mist designed to make light beams visible without obscuring the stage.

Safety: The fluids used in modern machines are water-based and non-toxic, unlike older methods that involved burning hazardous materials. The white color is the default, but colored lights can be shone through the fog to change its appearance.

Low-lying fog: To create fog that stays close to the ground, the machine's output is routed through a "chiller"—a container full of ice that cools the fog down before it is released.

Did You Know? - An alchemist was a practitioner of alchemy, an ancient blend of philosophy and proto-chemistry focused on transforming matter. Three key facts about alchemists are that they aimed to transmute base metals into gold, sought the elixir of life, and, though often mystical, their secretive experiments and material discoveries laid the groundwork for modern chemistry