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Halloween is just about here, which means there is a huge influx of pumpkins that will be going to waste. Here are some alternatives to just throwing those old Halloween pumpkins in the trash.
1. Eat Them
If you are like me and love the look of whole, uncarved pumpkins on your porch during the fall, the best thing you can do with them when the season is over is eat them. Even those crazy beautiful decorative pumpkins can usually be eaten. Most pumpkins can be stored for quite a long period of time, leaving them outside on your porch will definitely shorten that time period but they can still be eaten. Just be sure to keep a close eye on them to be sure you can enjoy them before they start to go bad. Nothing tastes better than a homemade pumpkin pie, but the recipe ideas for pumpkin are endless.
Here are some beautiful pumpkin varieties that are also delicious:
Jarrahdale Pumpkins (Blue)
Long Island Cheese (Flat, smooth orangey pink)
Cinderella (Flat, orange)
Sugar Pie (small, orange)
Winter Luxury (medium, orange with white top coat)
Flat White Boer (Flat, white)
Jack-O-Lantern-YES, you can eat your jack-o-lantern pumpkins!!
2. Save Seeds
Save those pumpkin seeds! Don't forget to save the seeds from your pumpkins when you carve them or just cut them up to eat them. You can use the seeds in next years garden or you can make delicious pumpkin seeds to snack on.
3. Compost Them
If you are unable to eat your pumpkins before they start to get moldy you can still compost them. They will add nutrients to your compost, and you never know, you may get a little pumpkin patch in your compost bin next year from the seeds.
4. Feed Animals
Chickens, pigs, and other animals LOVE pumpkins. Just be sure to feed them to the animals before they get moldy. You can even feed them to the wildlife in your yard, I personally do not because I do not want to attract animals to my garden, but that is another option if you'd like.
Pumpkin is also safe for dogs (both raw and cooked) and my dogs love it! Remember, if you are feeding a dog pumpkin for the first time start with a small amount to avoid upsetting their stomach.
Let's try to avoid wasting our pumpkins from this Halloween season and do something sustainable with them. Let me know what you do with your leftover pumpkins this fall season.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
