What do you do with pumpkins?

[girlmom21]

We put all of the pulp etc out for the foxes and hedgehogs but what do we do with the outside of the pumpkin now that Halloween is over?

Do you just throw them away? Or are they any good for the animals?

I put the whole thing on the wall in the garden for wildlife. I'm sure I've read not to put it on the floor because it can make hedgehogs ill.

It’s a laxative for hedgehogs (who need to be gaining a lot of weight to survive winter hibernation) so please put it up high if you do leave it outside.

I would put it in the garden waste bin

We put the whole lot out in the woods out the back. Can watch the squirrels climb up to them.

I’m considering tying it to a branch on our tree. Otherwise it would go in our garden waste bin.

We’re putting ours on a wall in the local park.

DONT GIVE IT TO HOGS

You didn't make soup??
Or pumpkin scones?
Omg...

We used the flesh for cooking and baking, used the seeds for roasting as a snack and put the hollowed out pumpkin itself in the food waste bin.

I remember reading that they were not good for hedgehogs. I have just peeled the skin off mine and chopped it up to put in the freezer but this was one we didn’t put a candle in. Ones that have had a candle burning in them can have soot marks in them which you would want to wash or scrape off before freezing!

@DrunkenKoala

We’re putting ours on a wall in the local park.

So, littering.

I am going to roast the seeds, make pumpkin soup and pumpkin loaf. Never heard of pumpkin scones, will have to Google that for a recipe. Skin goes in the food waste bin.

After years of never using the scooped out flesh, I just put the whole thing in the food recycling.

Gerbils love the seeds!

I've given ours to the velociraptors chickens.

We've only carved one (put stickers on the rest) so I'm making a fuck tonne of soup
I eat soup most days in the colder months anyway, so I'll use them up for that.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pumpkin-passion-cupcakes/amp

These are so good, we've made them a few times now. It's wasteful just to throw the whole thing out.

Flesh goes in soups and bread, seeds get dried and used in crafts, hollowed out skins get fireworks set off in them on bonfire night then goes on the compost heap.

Donate it to a local farm

Made a curry with the flesh. I sometimes roast the seeds but haven’t this year. It’s highly nutritious. The rest will go in the wormery or compost heap.

Oh thanks everyone! I didn't know that it wasn't good for hedgehogs so I'll make sure it's not accessible for them.

We have lots of trees in the garden so I'll make some little hangers and hang pieces up for the squirrels!

@Pumpkinsonparade

You didn't make soup?? Or pumpkin scones? Omg...

I'm not a fan of pumpkin

@SoupDragon

After years of never using the scooped out flesh, I just put the whole thing in the food recycling.

This is what I don’t understand. Scooping out the flesh? I just take out the seeds and all the stringy bits they’re stuck to, and the flesh is the wall of the pumpkin and stays put. Do you scoop that out as well before carving, leaving just a thin wall?

Our local council is collecting them and transporting to a local wildlife rescue where they will feed them to animals appropriately. It's probably worth seeing if there is anything similar near you. I believe our nearest zoo is also accepting donations. They are a great food for some animals but toxic to others so you do need to be careful.

@SoupDragon

So, littering.

No the wall is next to all the trees where lots of squirrels run along. We do it each year and it’s fine.