Smashing Pumpkins: How to Compost a Pumpkin After Halloween

Are you one of those people that let your Halloween pumpkin rot on the porch until it hopefully gets covered with snow or eaten by the local raccoons? Why not make the soil and your neighbors happy this year and compost that Halloween pumpkin? By composting it, your pumpkin will not be added to the waste at the local landfill.

Here's how to have fun smashing pumpkins and then recycling them.

1. Remove the Insides

If you have an un-carved pumpkin, go ahead and remove the seeds for roasting. Also scoop out the insides for cooking. Use the flesh for making soup and the seeds for snacking. The insides can also be added to the compost.

For a carved pumpkin, remove any candles or wax from the inside of the pumpkin. Also remove other plastic or other materials or accessories that may have been added to the pumpkin when you were involved in your Halloween decorating.

2. Smashing Pumpkins

This is the fun part, smashing pumpkins. Go ahead and have some fun with smashing pumpkins. They will turn into a nice mushy orange mess,

3. Find A Spot in the Yard

Find a place in the yard where a pile of natural materials like leaves and smashed pumpkins will not interfere with your landscaping. Try the side of the house or a small area in the back yard.

4. Place a Composting Bin

You can then place a plastic container in the spot to use as a composting bin. This is not necessary for the process. The benefit of using a bin is if you are planning on using the composted pumpkin and other natural material in a springtime garden or growing soil.

Also find an area that has good drainage and gets a lot of sunshine, even in the winter months, the Composting Council of Canada advises.

5. Add Leaves

The pumpkin will compost nicely when added to some fallen leaves, which are probably all over your lawn right now.

Tip: try not to add large sticks or branches, as those items take up to a year to compost, according to Yardener.

6. Continue to Add to the Pumpkin Compost Pile

You can add any other vegetable or fruit peels or cores or any other organic materials to the compost pile as time goes on. Just remember not to add any meat products including bones, skin or fat.

7. Let Nature Do the Work

The easiest type of composting is called "passive composting." This is when you just let nature, and the worms, do the work. There is no need to check on the compost, or to mix it up, or do add anything but natural materials to it.

Sources:

Composting Council of Canada, http://www.compost.org
Earth 911, http://earth911.org
Howtocompost.org, http://www.howtocompost.org
Recycle Now, http://www.recyclenow.com
Yardener, http://www.yardener.com/PassiveComposting.html