Halloween has come and gone, but the mountains of candy and many leftover pumpkins remain. Instead of tossing your pumpkins after Halloween, recycle them to help preserve landfill space and minimize methane gas. This article will give you 9 creative ways to recycle your Halloween pumpkins, whether they’re carved or uncarved.
1. Repurpose for Thanksgiving decorations
Halloween and Thanksgiving are both synonymous with pumpkins. Your uncarved pumpkins can hang out right where they are to stay festive for Thanksgiving.
To repurpose your Halloween pumpkins for Thanksgiving:
- Give them a new arrangement
- Add fall foliage and candles to pair well with pumpkins as an updated centerpiece
- Get crafty and put some paint or sequins on your pumpkins for a refreshed look
2. Save the seeds for planting
Instead of tossing the seeds when you gut your pumpkin, opt for saving them. Pumpkin seeds are versatile but require some work to prepare for planting.
How cool would it be to grow your own pumpkin from this year’s seeds and have it for next year’s Halloween? To prepare your pumpkin seeds for planting:
- Rinse the seeds well to clean them and remove all of the pumpkin pulp. It’s imperative to remove all the pulp because the remaining pulp can increase drying time or cause the pumpkin seeds to rot.
- Prepare a space for the pumpkin seeds to dry. Let them dry on a kitchen towel or wax paper-lined cookie sheet in a single layer. Don’t use a paper towel –– the pumpkin seeds will be sticky and could stick to it.
- Allow the pumpkin seeds to dry thoroughly –– about three to four weeks. Keep the seeds in a cool, dry place while they dry. To ensure the seeds dry on each side, flip them over often the first few days. Monitor your seeds to check for mold, and toss any moldy seeds.
- Once the seeds are dry, store them in a brown bag or envelope. Gathering them in a bag or envelope allows for safekeeping until planting time.
3. Save the seeds for eating
There are a few different ways you could eat your pumpkin seeds –– roast them, bake them into muffins, or use them as a salad topper. To prepare your seeds for eating:
Similar to if you were to prepare your seeds for planting, you will still need to rinse the pumpkin seeds well and remove the pumpkin pulp before eating.
The seeds will still need to dry, especially for roasting them, as it can create a crisper texture. Your kitchen towel can help aid in the drying process. Unlike planting the seeds, the drying time will not need to be weeks.
- For roasted pumpkin seeds: The spices you use for your pumpkin seeds can depend on your taste, but some options are salt, or garlic powder, paprika, and black pepper, or pack a punch with some chili powder.
Whichever spice combination you use, toss the seeds in oil (vegetable oil, olive oil, or coconut oil are good options) first and then add the seasoning.
Lay the seeds in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Pop the seeds in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes or until a nutty flavor fills the air, flipping every few minutes to ensure even roasting.
- For pumpkin seeds as a salad topper: You will still need to roast them to use as a salad topper, but you can roast them with another topping you like, such as sunflower seeds.
Note: If you are incorporating your pumpkin seeds into something like muffins, you could skip the roasting step and use a food processor to ground up the seeds. Or opt for keeping them whole in muffins – it’s up to you and your tastes! Either way, the roasting process is generally not needed in this scenario.
4. Pumpkin puree
When you buy a small pumpkin, it’s for the benefit of baking purposes instead of carving. So slice those pumpkins up to make some pumpkin puree.
To make pumpkin puree:
- Slice your pumpkin(s) in half from the top to the bottom
- Extract the seeds and pulp
- Place foil over each half and place in a 350-degree oven, foil side up, for approximately one hour or until tender
- Remove the pumpkin goodness from the halves and pop it in the blender to puree. You can use a strainer to remove any pieces that are still stringy. You can store your pumpkin puree in the freezer using freezer-safe bags until you’re ready to use it.
5. Bake some pumpkin treats
You did the work of making the pumpkin puree. Now the fun can begin with putting that pumpkin puree to use. Some ideas that incorporate pumpkin puree include:
- Oatmeal
- Waffles
- Pancakes
- Bread
- Soup
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Muffins
- Pumpkin pies
- Pumpkin spice latte
- Chili
- Ravioli
- Pumpkin butter
6. Construct a bird feeder
Your delicious pumpkin puree left you with a gutted pumpkin shell –– constructing a bird feeder is a great way to get some use of it. Or, with an uncarved pumpkin, remove the seeds and pulp first, and then cut it in half for a bowl look or cut a hole along its side to allow the birds ample space.
You could also use a carved pumpkin as long as it hasn’t begun to rot or it doesn’t have charred marks from a candle or candle wax. You might need to cut around the carved section, leaving only a bottom bowl.
To construct a bird feeder with a pumpkin:
- Decide where you want to place your pumpkin bird feeder.
- If you desire to hang it, you can put four holes in the sides of your pumpkin. After you make the holes, you can decide if you want to run small sticks through them or tie string or twine directly on the pumpkin to hang it.
- You also don’t have to hang your pumpkin. You can place it on your deck or lay it in your garden. Anywhere scattered throughout your yard will work too. Even if you’re not hanging your pumpkin bird feeder, you can still add sticks to act as a perch.
- Add some birdseed and enjoy watching the birds come to your yard. There are many benefits of attracting birds to your yard.
- Bring your pumpkin bird feeder inside at night if you don’t want to have raccoons or other critters feasting on it.
7. Make a pumpkin planter
If your pumpkin is still in good condition, you can make it into a planter. Add some soil and your flowers of choice for a new seasonal planter for your porch.
8. Check with your local zoo or farm
Some zoos or farms accept unpainted and uncarved pumpkins to give to the animals. Just imagine how cute furry animals eating or playing with pumpkins would be.
Before you load up your car with your pumpkins, give your local zoo or farm a call to ensure they’re accepting pumpkin donations.
9. Smash them for fun and compost
What better way to end Halloween with a bang than to smash all the once-spooky jack-o-lanterns? You get to have fun when you hit the pumpkins, but you’re also doing a good deed for your soil. Pumpkins naturally have water and nutrients that act as a fertilizer when left to break down on their own.
- Smash the pumpkins in various locations around your yard where they can decompose into the soil.
- You can also place them in a garden box where you want a pumpkin to grow in the spring.
- If you have a compost bin, you can place the entire pumpkin in the compost bin, or after you’ve smashed the pumpkins, you can collect the smaller pieces and put them in.
Note: Painted pumpkins are not suitable for a compost pile. You will need to wash your pumpkins off before placing them in the compost pile.
Don’t throw away your Halloween pumpkins
Halloween is a fun night, and it’s hard to resist buying at least one pumpkin during pumpkin season. There are many ways to recycle your Halloween pumpkin, whether it’s carved or uncarved, to help reduce the pumpkins that end up in a landfill each year.
Since Thanksgiving isn’t too long after Halloween, you can reuse your pumpkins for Thanksgiving decor.
If you’re a gardener, you can save the seeds to plant in the spring as you carve the best jack-lantern.
If you’re a baker, you can spend time in the kitchen making pumpkin puree for delicious pumpkin treats or roasting some pumpkin seeds.
If you’re a crafter, make a bird feeder or a planter with your Halloween pumpkins.
Your local zoo or farm might accept uncarved and unpainted pumpkins as a treat to the animals. But when all else fails, smash those (unpainted) pumpkins up for compost.
Main Photo Credit: rawpixel
