I have a bunch of pumpkins from Halloween. Normally I’d just toss them in the trash however began to wonder about an alternate use. Can I just mash up those pumpkins and spread around my trees and shrubs? Would that actually provide any nutrients to the plants or soil? I know it’ll probably rot fairly quickly. Not sure if that’ll affect anything.
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Depending where you are , deer will eat them if broken open. – blacksmith37 Nov 03 '21 at 15:55
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I wouldn't recommend spreading them on top of the soil, unless you have lots of wild birds about who will peck at the flesh. This blog does suggest a way to use them as fertiliser which involves burying the pulped flesh https://migardener.com/turning-halloween-pumpkins-free-fertilizer-4-simple-steps/, but otherwise, chop them up and add the pieces to the compost heap. If you do add them to the compost, best to remove the seeds first so you don't get lots of squash plants growing from it next year - you can wash off the pulp and dry them out or toast them to eat them yourself.
Bamboo
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Great idea of repurposing instead of trashing
If you want to repurpose the halloween pumpkins or any other vegetable scraps, composting them would be a great option.
✨ Geoff Lawton's 18-Day Fast Compost provides a great overview of what and how to compost. You can also find many other resources over the internet on composting. Please ensure to maintain 30:1 Carbon:Nitrogen ratio, abundant air (Oxygen) and optimal moisture for the best outcome.
✨ Another option that you can consider is a Bio Digester, which will turn the organic compounds to flammable Bio Gas (mainly Methane) and will also produce a liquid daily slurry that can be used as a liquid fertilizer. Bio Digester will also create solid substrate that can be cleared periodically and used as fertilizer.
Composting is an aerobic breakdown where as Bio digestion is anaerobic decomposition.
Sarbbottam
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