Don’t Throw Out Your Pumpkins! Do These 7 Things Instead

Pumpkin season is slowly coming to an end. Before you throw your pumpkins in the landfill, let’s talk about how else we can use them! We spent money on them, after all, so we might as well get some use out of them. Not to mention, food waste in landfills is one of the most pollutive things we can do as individuals, so let’s avoid it as much as possible.

Eat Them

If your pumpkin isn’t rotting/you didn’t carve it, eat it! If you don’t like pumpkin, your dogs and cats will and can even help add fiber to their diets.

Something to note is that squash keeps whole SO long. That’s why it’s such a staple crop in the fall and even into the winter. If it’s indoors, it will last several months without any of the following work to preserve it.

But, if it’s getting bad or you want to make room in your pantry, try these:

Dice it and freeze it raw
Dice it, bake it, and freeze the baked pieces or
Puree it and freeze the puree (or can the puree if you do canning)
Or simply use it immediately!

My personal favorite method for preserving pumpkin is to puree and freeze it. I dice it into very large chunks with the peel on and roast it at 350F until fork tender (or more tender, it’s easier to puree like that but it takes a while).

From here, it’s soft enough to get the peel off with a spoon. I compost the peels (though you can totally eat them, too) and throw the flesh into a bowl with a splash of water. The water just makes it easier to blend. I find it easiest to blend it right in the bowl with an immersion blender but a regular blender or food processor should work. Use what you have! You could even mash it by hand or just leave them in large chunks.

I place into freezer bags (Stasher Bags are a great eco option here), press all the air out, write the date on the bag (dry erase markers work on Stasher Bags!) and freeze to use all winter long.

There are so many ways to prep and eat pumpkin:

Oven-roasted on salads or as a side dish (we like it air-fried as a side for our ramen)
Tempura style over curry or udon
Baked and blended into soups
Baked and blended into pie filling
Pureed into dog food/cat food supplement (I add about 2-4 tbsp to my dog’s kibble)
Puree and bake them as muffins, cookies, cakes or any baked good you like

There are so many more recipe ideas where that came from on Pinterest. Basically, take your favorite canned pumpkin recipe and swap the fresh pumpkin!

Let someone else eat them

If you don’t want or don’t like pumpkin but it’s still in good condition, offer it up for free on Facebook! This could be your local Buy Nothing Group or other community page on Facebook for a neighbor to have for free. After all, it’s free food! If anything, someone may want it for late season decor or crafts or maybe they want some rich nutrients for their compost or garden. You never know what you can keep out of the landfill by using Facebook!

Compost them

Maybe you don’t like pumpkin. Maybe you carved it and now it’s starting to rot. If your pumpkin is not good for eating, compost it.

We should always prioritize eating food over composting it but compost should always come before the landfill! Once again, landfilling food is one of the worst things we can do as individuals.

Since pumpkins are so large, it would be bets to dice it or puree it before adding it to your compost pile (unless you have commercial curbside composting or a larger compost set up at home).

If you have never composted before and don’t know where to start, this is the video for you! Composting is easier than you might think, especially if your city has curbside composting services.

But what if you don’t have compost?

Take them to a local farm

Always call ahead before doing this, but find someone in your area that can compost your pumpkins for you OR someone that has livestock. What a fun treat for chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and many other farm animals!

Or, if you have backyard animals (chickens, pigs, goats) they will also eat it no matter what state it’s in.

AND it gets to stay out of the landfill!

Place it in your yard/garden

If you have yard space, another option is to simply place it in your yard for wildlife to eat.

Maybe this is just a hot take, but I think if you place a pumpkin in your yard and let squirrels and deer and raccoons snack on it, that isn’t a huge deal. But, make sure it’s safe. Make sure there is no paint or glitter on it or that you didn’t clean it with harsh chemicals. You may also want to cut it up a bit to help them get a head start!

BUT

Do NOT go dumping pumpkins in the woods. Don’t trespass and do NOT dump them on public lands like our national and state parks. This is illegal, first off, and pumpkins do not grow here and could start an invasive species breakout.

Do this on YOUR land only…or the land of a friend. NEVER dump on private or public land.

This isn’t my number one recommendation, so please take this one with a grain of salt. Is it better than the landfill? Yes. But it’s not the best.

Bury it

A last resort here is to just bury it.

If you have yard space, just compost, what are you waiting for?! But, if you have a yard but no compost, dig a hole and bury that bad boy. This way it can fully break down and turn into nutrients for the surrounding soil. I would once again encourage you to dice it up to encourage speedier composting.

This is still a much better option than the landfill!

Landfill it

This is a last-case scenario. If this is your ONLY option, I understand.

Before you throw it in your garbage can, let it decompose as much as possible. Throwing it in a plastic bag and sending it to the landfill BEFORE decomposition creates tons of methane in the landfill.

But, letting it break down as much as possible before bagging it means less methane will be bottled up in the landfill.

Again, this should truly be your last resort. Pumpkins are food for humans and animals alike and I’m sure there is someone out there who would love to eat it!

I hope this post was helpful to you this time of year in preventing waste and eating some food you may not have known was food!

It’s so much easier to process than you might think as well. It just takes a little time. Pop on an audiobook or a spooky movie and get to work!

How are you going to be preventing your pumpkins from the landfill this year?

As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)

Emma