Recycling Pumpkins - Keeping it Green after Haloween
Halloween – scary costumes, lots of candy and pumpkins! The scary costumes can be saved for next year, the candy will disappear pretty quick, but what to do with all the pumpkins?
Pumpkins contain lots of water and when they decompose in landfills, they exude lots of methane gas. Foodstuffs and yard trimming make up 24% of the municipal solid waste stream. Let’s find some better uses for the pumpkins after the holidays.
Pumpkins are good to eat. Scoop out the pumpkin seeds, rinse well, toss with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt or herbs and roast for 30 minutes in a 300-degree oven. Yummy snack! Skip the roasting and salt, just rinse and dry and put in your bird feeders.
The pulp can be made into puree for pies, soups and bread, or use chunks of pumpkin when making vegetable stock. Pumpkin can be added to applesauce, oatmeal, used to make pumpkin butter (just like apple butter), added to risotto; the options are endless.
Did you know you can bake the skin for a crunchy snack as well? Peel off the skin, sprinkle with paprika and sea salt and dry in a food dehydrator. Or how about pickled rind? Peel off the rind with a vegetable peeler and cut into two-inch squares. In a large pot, add the pumpkin pieces, 2.5 cups of sugar, 2 cups of white vinegar, and a small piece of ginger. Bring to a boil and cook until the pieces are tender. Place the pumpkin in the refrigerator overnight to cool down before eating. Enjoy!
Everyone knows about making pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread, but what about pumpkin ale? More and more brewers are using pumpkin in their recipes, so you if have been making your own ale, maybe add a little pumpkin next time.
Pumpkins can be composted but don’t put them into your compost pile. Instead, bury them. Find a place in your garden that will not be used for a few months. Dig a shallow hole and place cut up pieces of your Halloween pumpkins in the hole. Cover with soil. In a few months, the pumpkins will break down and enrich your soil and improve whatever you plant there next.
If you don’t want to dig a hole, but you have a closed-bin composter, put the pumpkin in the composter and in a few months, you will have compost for your garden.
There are plenty of uses for old Halloween pumpkin decorations that keep them out of the trash. Recycling is responsible and earth- and wildlife-friendly.
Tri County Wildlife Care, a local nonprofit started in 1994, is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of our native wildlife and helping our community live in balance with wildlife. They envision a world where wildlife and people thrive together. For more information call (209) 283-3245, or visit pawspartners.org.
Pumpkins contain lots of water and when they decompose in landfills, they exude lots of methane gas. Foodstuffs and yard trimming make up 24% of the municipal solid waste stream. Let’s find some better uses for the pumpkins after the holidays.
Pumpkins are good to eat. Scoop out the pumpkin seeds, rinse well, toss with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt or herbs and roast for 30 minutes in a 300-degree oven. Yummy snack! Skip the roasting and salt, just rinse and dry and put in your bird feeders.
The pulp can be made into puree for pies, soups and bread, or use chunks of pumpkin when making vegetable stock. Pumpkin can be added to applesauce, oatmeal, used to make pumpkin butter (just like apple butter), added to risotto; the options are endless.
Did you know you can bake the skin for a crunchy snack as well? Peel off the skin, sprinkle with paprika and sea salt and dry in a food dehydrator. Or how about pickled rind? Peel off the rind with a vegetable peeler and cut into two-inch squares. In a large pot, add the pumpkin pieces, 2.5 cups of sugar, 2 cups of white vinegar, and a small piece of ginger. Bring to a boil and cook until the pieces are tender. Place the pumpkin in the refrigerator overnight to cool down before eating. Enjoy!
Everyone knows about making pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread, but what about pumpkin ale? More and more brewers are using pumpkin in their recipes, so you if have been making your own ale, maybe add a little pumpkin next time.
Pumpkins can be composted but don’t put them into your compost pile. Instead, bury them. Find a place in your garden that will not be used for a few months. Dig a shallow hole and place cut up pieces of your Halloween pumpkins in the hole. Cover with soil. In a few months, the pumpkins will break down and enrich your soil and improve whatever you plant there next.
If you don’t want to dig a hole, but you have a closed-bin composter, put the pumpkin in the composter and in a few months, you will have compost for your garden.
There are plenty of uses for old Halloween pumpkin decorations that keep them out of the trash. Recycling is responsible and earth- and wildlife-friendly.
Tri County Wildlife Care, a local nonprofit started in 1994, is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of our native wildlife and helping our community live in balance with wildlife. They envision a world where wildlife and people thrive together. For more information call (209) 283-3245, or visit pawspartners.org.