Once Halloween is over and the trick or treaters have been and gone, it’s time to clear away your pumpkins and start building those bonfires. But before you chuck your Jack O’Lantern straight in the bin, here are some ways to save it going to waste after Halloween.
Cooking your pumpkin
Great news if you decided not to carve your pumpkin this year, you can still use the innards to create some delicious and healthy meals.
Also, if you decorated your pumpkin using paint, or have a few smaller sized pumpkins that you used to decorate for Halloween, then these are perfect for chopping up and roasting. Then you can include it in soups and tarts, to make the ultimate warming dish.
Most pumpkin recipes begin with chopping, peeling, and removing the seeds and then roasting the chunks in the oven until soft. They can then be blended into soups, stirred into risotto, or even baked into a sweetly spiced pie.
The flesh of a pumpkin as always been popular for cooking with, and most people completely overlook the stringy portion of the fruit. However, this can actually make a lovely vegetable stock.
Simply add the pumpkin guts to a pan with some oil, stir for a minute or two on medium heat with other veg such as onions or carrots.
Then add a few cups of water, boil for about thirty minutes and strain.
If you’re struggling to peel and chop your pumpkin, you can roast the whole thing in the oven and then scoop out the flesh once it has softened.
You can even dry out smaller hollowed out pumpkins to use as bowls to serve in!
With that in mind, don’t forget that soups, stock, and pumpkin puree can be frozen and used throughout the winter.
Roasting pumpkin seeds
Hopefully when you were carving your pumpkin you didn’t chuck away the seeds!
These little guys are packed with nutrients including zinc, vitamin E and fibre. So, they make the perfect healthy snack when roasted.
Simply wash and dry the seeds of any pumpkin residue and bake in a preheated oven with a drizzle of olive oil for about 20 minutes. Once they have cooled you can scatter them over pies and soups, or just munch on them as they are!
Composting your pumpkin
Of course – composting all your leftovers is a great way to recycle your pumpkin in an environmentally friendly way. I’d suggest breaking the pumpkin down a bit and leaving it outside for birds and other animals to pick at.
Once the animals have finished, pop it into your compost bin, and next year it’ll be a rich fertiliser that will work wonders on your plants and flowers.
Planting pumpkin seeds
What’s more, planting your pumpkin seeds from this year could see you carving and cooking your own homegrown pumpkins next Halloween!
It might seem daunting at first, but as long as you have a spacious sunny area in your garden for them to grow, you should get some great results.
Read this for a step by step guide on planting your pumpkin seeds and tips for growing the best pumpkins.
Make a planter or bird feeder
Pumpkins are equally as nutritious for birds and plants as they are for us!
Lend a helping hand to your garden plants or birds by making a planter or feeder out of your old Halloween pumpkin.
This is a great thing to do with pumpkins that have been carved and left outside, as these cannot be cooked with.
To make a planter, take your carved pumpkin, line it with newspaper and pack some soil tightly into it. Then, plant whatever seeds you would like into the soil. I’ve found that early flowering annuals work well.
You can leave the whole thing out as decoration for a few more weeks, or you can plant the whole thing in the ground in the front or back garden. The pumpkin will decompose and contribute to the seeds’ growth, providing them with nutritious food.
Alternatively, to make a feeder cut your carved pumpkin in half to create a wide bowl with the bottom half.
Then, cut a groove around the rim of your pumpkin bowl and stick pumpkin seeds upright all the way around.
To add perches, make holes and insert twigs around the outside. Fill with your preferred bird seed and then hang by threading strong garden twine through holes in the sides.
You might need to line with newspaper to prevent seeds falling out where you carved holes into the pumpkin.
*Please don’t feed pumpkins to hedgehogs. It has been reported that it can upset their stomachs. Best to leave out hedgehog or cat/dog food.
So, those are just a few things you can do with your pumpkin after Halloween, but I’d love to know if you have any more creative ideas! Reply in the comments below or send me pictures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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