Pumpkin Disposal
What To Do with Your Old Pumpkins
Once a pumpkin has already been used for a jack-o-lantern or a pie, it’s widely believed that it has served its full purpose and can no longer be used. However, this just isn’t true! Pumpkins can serve a very important environmental purpose if they are discarded properly. Whether it’s the skin, the guts, the seeds, or even the stem, we encourage everyone to utilize a creative, if not mindful, use for every part of the pumpkin.
Compost Them
Just like any vegetative waste, pumpkins can be fully composted when the season is over. This is one important way to divert them from the landfill, where they would otherwise anaerobically decompose and create methane, a potent greenhouse gas that damages the ozone layer.
Composting your pumpkin means turning it into an organic soil enhancer that you can use next spring. In other words, it’s returning the nutrients of the pumpkin back to the soil – natural decomposition at work!
Create your own at-home composting area by combining the following:
- 50% BROWN material (carbon), such as dried leaves or straw.
- 25% GREEN material (nitrogen), such as pumpkins fresh grass clips, green leaves, fruit and vegetable peels and coffee grounds.
- 25% soil or compost. This will introduce the decomposing organisms to the compost pile.
- Water. Keep the pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge.
You may want to turn your compost pile once a week to speed the decay process, but you don’t have to. Composting won’t smell if it is done properly! If your pile is creating odors, add more brown (carbon) materials.
Don't Want to Put Your Pumpkins in a Compost Pile? Smash Them!
If you have a backyard but don’t want to start a compost pile, you can still divert your pumpkins from the landfill by finding a spot, smashing the pumpkin, and covering it with leaves. Come spring, your pumpkin will have decomposed and its nutrients will have been added to your soil!
Feed the Animals
Wildlife loves pumpkins! Give the squirrels, birds, possums, raccoons, and deer a treat by breaking your pumpkin open and letting the local animals have it. Set a piece of pumpkin up in a tree, by the ditch, or in the nearby brush and watch how quickly it goes!
However, it’s very important to note that any pumpkins sprayed with harsh chemicals like bleach should NOT be given to animals as it can make them sick.
Bring Them to 5Heart Earthworm Farm!
Our Pumpkin Drop-Off trailer is out by the road from mid-October until November 30 every year! Stop by any time to drop off your old pumpkins or gourds before (or after) they turn into a mess at your doorstep. We take them in any condition – fresh, rotten, moldy, and everything in between. All we ask is that you leave out any candles (wax or electric) before dropping them off.
By doing this, you’re saving time by not having to compost them at home. PLUS, you’re helping to feed our earthworms! Your pumpkins will be turned into a natural soil amendment that will improve the health of local soils.
