Halloween has come and gone. All the ‘good’ candy is gone; it’s nothing but pink pieces of cement (also known as Hubba Bubba) and those weird peanut butter taffy things in the black and orange wax paper. The jack-o-lanterns were posted to Instagram, but now comes the question, “What do you do with pumpkins after Halloween?”
Whether you went all out and decorated with a dozen pastel-colored heirloom pumpkins or have a couple of sad-looking jack-o-lanterns sitting on your porch, deciding what to do with these perishable decorations can be a hassle.
The first and most obvious choice always seems to be – pitch ‘em.
But that’s just silly. It creates extra waste, and there are much better options for laying your pumpkins to rest each fall.
1. Compost Them
One of the easiest options for getting rid of Jack when he’s past his prime is tossing your pumpkin on the compost heap. Send it back where it came from, and it will turn into gardener’s black gold.
To help pumpkins decompose faster, chop them into smaller chunks first. If you don’t have a compost pile or bin, I’ll bet you have a friend who does. You can also see if there is a community composting site where you live.
2. Save the Seeds
Of course, if you didn’t carve your pumpkins, consider cutting a couple open to save the seeds. They make a marvelously crunchy fall snack. Or you can save the seeds and grow pumpkins next year.
3. Eat Your Decorations
Make pie or soup, or pumpkin bread or pumpkin butter. Those beautiful gourds aren’t just for decorating. Many of the prettiest pumpkins are also tasty heirloom varieties. And because they are frost and cold hearty, you can still cook and eat them. It all starts with pumpkin puree, which is surprisingly easy to make. Learn how here.
4. Make a Donation
Local zoos, large animal rescues and even farms are happy to take pumpkins off your hands to feed to the animals. You may be surprised how many places in your community would be happy to have your Halloween cast-offs. What better way to kick off the season of giving?
5. Bird Feeder
This is such a cool idea, and you can do it with whole pumpkins or carved pumpkins.
For carved pumpkins, leave the top off and fill the inside with your favorite birdseed. Place Jack where your local songbirds hang out, and they will take care of the rest. Along with the seeds, wild birds will happily eat the pumpkin as well.
If you have a whole pumpkin, slice it in half horizontally, scoop out some of the inner flesh and fill both halves with seeds. You can use twine to hang these feeders from branches or place them on the ground.
6. Feed Your Flock
If you have chickens (and you really should), then you’ve got the perfect pumpkin disposal mechanism in your run. Chickens love pumpkins. As long as the pumpkins are rotten, you can cut them in half and feed them to your girls. Your flock will happily take your Halloween discards and turn them into delicious eggs for you.
7. Use Your Decomposing Pumpkin to Winter Over Mums
If you decorated with mums, then you’ve probably read our article on how to keep them blooming all fall and winter them over.
One of the ways is to bury the mums in the ground. Take it a step further, repot them in one of your pumpkins, and plant the whole thing in the ground. The pumpkin will decompose, adding nutrients back to the soil while protecting the roots of your Chrysanthemums from frost damage.
See? You have plenty of easy options for getting rid of your pumpkins once Halloween is over. And most of them involve making another creature happy, whether it’s you or the local wildlife.
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