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This post is by Luba Guzei, an Eat Well Guide intern, who studies and eats in the belly of New York City (also known as lower Manhattan/Brooklyn). As a student at New York University, her academics include contemplating the importance of food on an international scale. However, Luba is also interested in the very food she eats and loves being involved in every aspect of the vegetable garden–to-table process. She is currently enjoying the farmers market’s abundance of winter vegetables and her new found ability to make soup.

School is in session, Halloween costumes are in the works, there is a chill in the air, and we all know what that means…. Pumpkins!

Incredibly versatile in their use, pumpkins and other squash are in full swing at your local farms and markets. Here are a few great ways to take advantage of this seasonal vegetable:

1. Go pumpkin picking. Don your sweater and head to the nearest pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkin! Use the Eat Well Guide to find a local family farm or use this great website to find a nearby pumpkin patch. While you’re at it, many farms have other fall produce that you can pick yourself or purchase right at the farm! If you’re an urban dweller, it’s a great excuse to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life; if you’re in the ‘burbs, it’s a wonderful family or cute date activity.

2. Find pumpkins at the farmers’ market. Upon wandering the New York City Greenmarket last week, I couldn’t believe the variety of pumpkins and squash on display. “Are these edible, or decorative?” I asked one of the farmers. A customer turned to me and replied, “Both! And they’re all delicious!” Farmers’ markets often offer a plethora of pumpkin and squash varieties, not to mention, the environment allows for valuable conversations with farmers or other customers regarding taste/flavor and new recipes to try. If farmer’s markets aren’t on your regular route, pumpkin season is a great time to search out one close by; you might be surprised at the additional local produce you find while you’re there.

3. Carve them. Invite your friends over for a BYOS (bring your own squash) party. While pumpkin is traditional, any squash will do (carving competitions optional). Perhaps not all of us can carve like this, but with the help of some creativity, or a pumpkin carving kit, everyone can carve something exciting. Once you’re done, coat the inside and carved parts with petroleum jelly to preserve your pumpkin, and display promptly. When night falls, use beeswax candles instead of the common paraffin wax candles, which are a petroleum by-product.

4. Toast their seeds. When carving your pumpkin, don’t just throw out the innards. For salted seeds: pick out the seeds, wash them off, and simmer them in boiling water for ten minutes (2 cups water and 2 tbsp salt per ½ cup seeds). Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil, drain the seeds and spread them out in one layer in the roasting pan. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, let cool, and enjoy! If you’d rather cut back on that sodium, skip the boiling steps and go straight to roasting the seeds. (thanks Elise.com for this exact recipe)

5. Cook them. Nothing says October more than a bowl of homemade butternut squash soup. Yet, pumpkin and squash lend themselves to an abundance of recipes, ranging from stew to soufflé. Epicurious features pumpkin recipes in this beautiful slideshow, and recipes are rampant on the internet this time of year. If you yearn for something tried and true, open up any trusty cookbook you have lying around the house and look up pumpkin or squash in the index- the results are bound to be tasty.

6. Drink pumpkin beer. Beer advocate provides a crash course in the subject: “released as a fall seasonal, Pumpkin Ales are quite varied. Some brewers opt to add hand-cut pumpkins and drop them in the mash, while others use puree or pumpkin flavoring.” Take a look at their site for nearly 200 pumpkin beer suggestions, many from small breweries across the nation. Your local supermarket will probably have at least a couple of pumpkin beers, and that can be delicious on short notice. But if you’re more adventurous, try a beer specialty store or a particularly awesome bar in your area that will have a bigger assortment and, as importantly, local brews. Beeradvocate recommends Heartland Brewery’s Stumpkin — a great choice for us New Yorkers. Chama River’s Pumkin Ale is ideal in New Mexico, Great Dane’s Pumkin Ale is a hit in Madison, and plenty of places like the Bruery have taken it upon themselves to make this cold-weather classic available to those enviably warm Californians. So, go on, grab your friends, buy some beer, and enjoy a night of seasonal local ales. Yum!