Agritechnica is now just a pumpkin’s throw away!
Optimistic shop managers have been selling Hallowe’en merchandise since the Spring, and now the ghoulish big day is fast approaching. We’ve all seen countless carved pumpkins over the years, but did you know how the tradition started?
It all dates back to the 17th century in Ireland and a folk myth about a man called Stingy Jack, who tried to trick the Devil into changing his bodily form.
Eventually Jack died. Following so many dealings with the underworld, he obviously couldn’t get a place in Heaven. As punishment for his trickery, the Devil refused poor Jack access to Hell too, forcing him to wander the Earth for all eternity with only a carved-out turnip lamp to light his way, hence his new nickname: Jack O’Lantern.
The following centuries saw millions of Irish people emigrate to the USA, where the ‘Stingy Jack’ story perpetuated as did people’s interest in vegetable carving. The familiar bright orange North American pumpkin, Cucurbita Pepo – first cultivated at least 8,000 years ago (in Mexico) – soon replaced the humble Irish turnip as the vegetable of choice to carve at this time of year.
Pumpkin farming is big business, with up to 30 million being grown every year in the UK alone, around half of which are grown with Hallowe’en in mind. Here at Chapmans, we produce a range of topper flails, scalper knives and lifter shares for harvesting an array of root crops – from carrots and onions to sugar beet and potatoes – part of the UK’s annual 3 million tonne fruit and veg yield, worth over £5 billion a year to the country’s economy.
So, will you be carving a spooky face into a pumpkin this year?
Happy Hallowe’en!!
6 November 2025
