Still Have Your Halloween Pumpkin? Here’s What To Do

Now that Halloween has passed, and we are looking forward to Thanksgiving (Yes, that holiday that comes before Christmas!), did any of you make a Jack-O-Lantern? What do you do with the pumpkin after?  Well believe it or not, there are a lot of options instead of just throwing them into the trash.  And it can help wildlife and the environment.

In a landfill, pumpkins and other organic materials are buried and rot without oxygen, which creates the potent greenhouse gas methane. So that is why other options are better.

Perhaps some of you are great in the kitchen.  The pumpkin seeds are edible, so clean them up and roast them in the oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.  Or perhaps a pumpkin puree can be made for that pumpkin pie.  Click HERE for a recipe.  Birds also will eat them if you put them in a bird feeder.

This may not sounds as exciting, but pumpkins can make a great compost pile.  Seriously.   They break down within a couple of weeks and give your garden some much-needed nutrients. You just need a compost bin for your old pumpkins. Donation is also an option.  Zoo's, animal shelters, community gardens or farms.

Your neighborhood wildlife would probable be thrilled if the pumpkins were left for them.  As long as they have not been painted, cut them up into smaller pieces and the deer, rabbits and squirrels will probably devour them happily.  Apparently it is a natural de-wormer too.

So now you have a few options.  And if anyone does the puree route and makes pumpkin pie, please feel free to share some with us here at the station.  :)