At the end of October, the doorway to winter swings wide open. The sun is swallowed up by nights that lengthen with every passing day. The shimmering greens of summer and fiery hues of autumn give way to bare branches. Glorious fall flowers fade and die back. It is a time when temperatures can drop quickly once the sun is low and the mornings sparkle with frost or snow instead of dew.

The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celts who inhabited many parts of the British Isles and Northern France. The traditional holiday was called Samhain, which is Gaelic for summer’s end. This time of the year celebrated the end of the harvest season and acknowledged the beginning of the long, cold winter. Some people believed that on this night, ghosts and spirits roamed and that the souls of the dead would pay a visit to familiar places. Huge bonfires were built and lanterns were set out to welcome them, or to scare them away.

In the seventh century, this festival was Christianized as All Saints’ Day, also known as Hallowmass, which commemorated the souls of the dead. The night before was called All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween. Throughout the centuries, traditional beliefs of many cultures have intertwined into the present-day celebration of costumes, trick or treating and pumpkin carving.

The practice of carving jack-o-lanterns began in Ireland. The original Halloween lantern was probably a turnip or a rutabaga as pumpkins do not grow well in the short summers of the Celtic lands. These paler vegetables can be shaped more like skulls or heads, and will give off an eerie glow when they are lit with a candle.

The name jack-o-lantern can be traced back to a legend that tells of a stingy man named Jack who couldn’t get into heaven when he died. Upon meeting the devil, Jack tricked him into a year’s reprieve and then wandered the world. On Halloween, he lights a lantern and tries to think of a way to trick the devil again.

When Irish immigrants came to the United States, they used the more readily, and in my mind, much easier to carve, squash or pumpkin. Have you tried to carve a turnip? It is not a walk in the park! Carved pumpkins, lit by a candle inside, is now one of Halloween’s most prominent symbols.

One of my favorite ways to carve Halloween jack-o-lanterns turns the fruit on its side. I now find myself paying as much attention to the stem as I do to the carving surface. Look for smaller pumpkins and carve faces using the stem as the nose. The ribs and shape of the pumpkin itself will clue you in to its face. Use the blossom end to access the inside for cleaning. This technique encourages you to search for each jack-o-lantern’s inner personality and the silly faces you create look great perched on tree branches or tucked into small spaces along walkways.

When I carve pumpkins I have learned to rely on tools less traditional than knives. My most useful is a set of linoleum cutters that you can get at any craft or art supply store. Using these tools removes the skin and as much of the flesh as you would like. You can get some incredible detail and shading on your faces this way.

And don’t stop at the traditional bright orange pumpkins when you’re planning your Halloween displays. There are so many varieties available now. My favorites this year are Galeux d’ Eysines with its lovely pale peach skin and creamy orange flesh, the deep color and knobbiness of Red Warty Thing and Blue Doll with its mysterious smoky blue-gray color.

.If you want to grow your own pumpkins and gourds next spring, they are an easy crop to manage. You just need a sunny spot and some space for the vines to ramble. Squashes, pumpkins and gourds are all members of the Cucurbitaceae family so they all require the same growing conditions. The main difference is that squash and pumpkins are edible while gourds are not. Summer squashes like zucchini are harvested and eaten when they are immature while winter squash are left to ripen on the vine.

As you gaze upon the piles of winter squash at the farmer’s market, more beautiful than the fall foliage this year, keep in mind all the wondrous uses this family of plants gives us. Stock up, experiment with some new varieties and try to find the face hiding in that pumpkin. We know it’s in there.