IT'S PUMPKIN time, so here are five pumpkin-related facts from the University of Illinois Extension that you can impress your friends with.

1. Pumpkins are fruits, not vegetables.

2. Pumpkin flowers are edible.

3. Ninety percent of the pumpkins grown in the United States are raised with 90 miles of Peoria, Ill. (Sorry, Half Moon Bay).

4. Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

5. If you write the word pumpkin enough it starts to look weird.

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