by Nick Escalada
In the olden days, the pumpkins sitting in your yard in October would usually be the same ones on your dinner table weeks later. In our era of store-bought pies and soups, many households face an awkward confrontation with their expiring porch decorations post-Halloween and rotting gourds end up lining neighborhood gutters without fail. There are several ways to repurpose or dispose of your pumpkins sustainably according to the folks at Green Spiral Farm located in the Arcata Bottoms. They run a vibrant pumpkin patch that’s just seen a few mushy outliers after a long season and some heavy rain.
“The pumpkins themselves seem to last a month and a half, somewhere in that range — a little over a month, if they’re not carved,” said co-owner and operator of the Green Spiral Farm Chelsey Gagne. “I think it’s just good to wait the closer you can to Halloween, because you only have a couple weeks from that point.”
If your pumpkin’s too old for eating, it’s still eligible for a second life. Proper composting and feeding to livestock are both good practices to keep those crops off the streets.
“You’ve got some great seeds in there. You can brine and roast those seeds, they’re an awesome snack; and with plenty of these varieties, you can certainly make a pie or a soup,” said co-owner Graham Gagne. “[Rotting pumpkins are] also great feed for pigs as well as chickens. A good compost pile does need to be contained to [prevent] rodents and pests from making a home there. But I recommend, if you’re interested in composting, to look into that. Look up some plans, maybe invest in a composting bin.”
As wholesale farmers, the Gagnes make sure none of their leftover produce from the patch is wasted, supplying ranchers and buyers beyond their everyday visitors.
“We like to connect with different community events that are happening close to Halloween that we can donate some of those pumpkins to, and make that last connection for people to use them in those last few days,” Chelsey said. “Beyond that, we’ve built a great relationship with an awesome family of pig farmers. They come out with their kids and their whole family load all these pumpkins up and feed them to all their pigs.”
The saggy orange face festering on your doorstep each November might not look like much more than hot garbage, but Mother Nature sees it as a cache of potential. She urges you to treat it as such.
Nick is the news editor at The Lumberjack, and studies wildlife and journalism with the goal of spreading his love of nature through media. A famous recluse, he is rarely seen at social functions, but you might dig him up in a SAC lounge beanbag chair. Chat with him at ne53@humboldt.edu!