4 Ways to Use Your Leftover Pumpkin

Food waste is a growing problem here in the UK, and actually accounts for a large percentage of C02 released into the atmosphere. If you have a leftover pumpkin from lantern carving for Halloween this year, make sure it doesn’t end up in the bin! There’s a whole host of different ways you can put your pumpkin to good use.

A Pumpkin Smash!

Pumpkins are 90% made up of water, which means that they break down incredibly quickly and can form a great compost. Instead of simply just chopping it up and popping it in the compost heap, why not get creative and involve the whole family in a pumpkin smash?

You might even find some organised pumpkin smash events in pumpkin picking farms locally – making it easier for them to enrich the soil for the next growing season.

Use it as a Planter

If you have quite a large pumpkin, why not use it as a lovely decorative autumnal planter for a few weeks? Another great way to use it in your gardening is to pop some seeds or bulbs and soil in the pumpkin before burying it whole – as it decomposes, it will enrich the soil and help your plants flourish.

Back to Nature

Squirrels, badgers, foxes are all good candidates for a pumpkin feast. Chop up your pumpkin into animal-friendly sized pieces and scatter them in your garden as a little Halloween snack for local wildlife; encouraging wildlife into your garden is great for your mini sanctuary.

You can also use the bottom half of the pumpkin to create a bird feeder: place some skewers to act as a stand for the birds to sit on. Encouraging birds into your garden is a great way to combat pests.

Cook it!

Roasting, pureeing or baking: there’s so many ways that you can cook this lovely orange root vegetable. If you haven’t had yours outside and it’s still fresh enough to eat then there’s no end of recipes that you can find online. If you don’t intend on growing your own, then the seeds make an excellent snack when roasted with your favorite herbs or spices.

Want to be able to grow your own pumpkin next year? Start your growing journey now with a Sprout mini greenhouse, and by next year you’ll be the PumpKing/Queen of Halloween.