Friday, November 4, 2011

Smashing Pumpkins

Halloween is the best holiday of the year. Okay, in my opinion it’s the best. I mean, what could be better than wearing costumes while eating candy and celebrating spiders, zombies and all things “scary”? But now that the spooky fun has past, it is time to retire the old, drooping jack o’ lantern to the compost bin.

The most important part of composting pumpkins is in the title of this post, and it has nothing to do with Billy Corgan. Pumpkins can be quite bulky (especially if you have multiple jack o’ lanterns like me) so we need to condense the size by smashing them up. A great way to relieve stress and a fun activity for the whole family.

Here are some ideas for ways to smash pumpkins:

• Stomping on them (wear old shoes!)
• Thumping them with a mallet
• Stabbing them with a shovel
• Throwing them against the wall

Pumpkins add valuable water and nitrogen to your pile at a time when it is mostly dry leaves. Just be sure to remove the candle before tossing the smashed pumpkin bits in the bin.

If you'd like to smash your pumpkin in public, go to Mt. Washington's annual Pumpkin Chuck this weekend: www.mwcc.org/

For 18 other great tips on how to recycle your pumpkin check out the Metro DC Lawn and Garden Blog.

Next, I guess I should also take care of those “decorative” cobwebs around my house.

2 comments:

  1. Split 'em open and leave them in the open, birds will get the seeds as will the ever-present squirrels.

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  2. That's a great idea, Lefty! A natural bird feeder and you may get some "volunteer" pumpkins next year.

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