Yes! You Can Compost Pumpkins

So don’t put that Jack-o’Lantern in the garbage.

Each year about 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are sold in the United States, nearly all of them around Halloween. Most of these are grown in Illinois and smaller amounts in California, Texas, Indiana, and Virginia.

Sadly, most of them are only carved for jack-o’lanterns and then thrown away. The best choice is to carve them only a day or two before the holiday and then cook and even eat them; of course, the seeds are delicious, too. There are some easy cooking ideas and a recipe right here.

If you don’t eat your pumpkin, you can compost it.

Anything that was once alive will decompose, and that’s all that compost is; a mixture of materials that are now turning into soil that will feed new plants.

If you are new to the process, I’ve written an article Composting Basics: Learn How to Make Compost With Easy Tips From an Expert Gardener. Even if you don’t have an actual compost pile, all you have to do is chop up your pumpkin so it will decompose quickly. Then cover it will some leaves and a bit of soil in an unused garden bed or corner of your yard, and by spring, it will be gone.

Feed your jack-o’lantern to your chickens. Or squirrels. Or deer.

Birds will love to eat the seeds if you decide not to roast them. So instead, cut up the pumpkin into a few large chunks and leave it in an area where wildlife is common, and it will soon be gone.

Just for fun—where did the idea of pumpkin carving begin?

People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” Jack tricked the devil into paying for his liquor and double-crossed the devil again and again.

Finally, Jack was cursed and denied entry into Heaven and Hell. Instead, he was fated to wander with one glowing ember, carried in a hollowed-out turnip, the first jack-o’lantern.

Citizens followed Jack’s example and began placing hollowed-out vegetables, including pumpkins, outside their home on Samhain, now Halloween. It was decorated with scary faces and a candle inside to keep away the spirits loosed on October 31.

The myth is fun but let’s not waste all that food.

We don’t need to add a billion pounds of pumpkins to our landfills. So whether you compost, feed your pumpkin to livestock or wildlife, please don’t throw it away.

Encourage your neighbors and friends to Compost that Pumpkin.