Halloween is over and now that you have a porch full of pumpkins, what do you do with all of them before they rot? Here are some ideas to help you keep them out of the trash.

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Halloween Pumpkins

Skeliton on hay with pumpkins around
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When I was a kid, you got one or two pumpkins and that's about it depending on where you lived, you either threw the pumpkin out back for animals to eat or threw it in the garbage.

Pumpkins
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Now you even have more than pumpkins that make it onto the porch to further celebrate the holiday. If you are not eating this stuff it has to go somewhere and for most, it goes in the trash.

In today's world, we are better about recycling and making sure things don't all go to the dump if they don't have to. So here are some ideas on what to do with the old pumpkins, squash, and gords you may have accumulated for the holiday.

What To Do With Your Old Pumpkins

Funky Pumpkins
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If you carved your pumpkins for Halloween and put a candle in them and left them on the porch for the past month, they probably are starting to look like the ones in the picture above.

Carved pumpkins you really can't do much with but don't throw them in the trash. If you live in a rural area or even in a part of the city where larger animals like deer pass through your yard, leave the pumpkins out for them because they will eat them just make sure you cut them into small pieces it will speed up the process.

You can even hang smaller pumpkins from trees and put bird seed in them and birds will eat from them and they too will snack on the pumpkins and so will squirrels and chipmunks.

One filthy hog in manure, dirty pig hanging on a fence.
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If you know of some area farmers who have pigs and goats, donate them to the farmer. As much as feed costs, a farmer would gladly take those to feed their animals.

If you plant flowers or a garden, a compost pile is a good place to put old pumpkins and gords too. They are filled with a high dose of nitrogen and they will help make your plants and garden grow way better naturally. Don't throw the pumpkin seeds in your compost pile or you will have pumpkins next summer.

What to do With Whole Pumpkins

Autumn and Thanksgiving decoration
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You can do a lot more if you leave your pumpkins whole from taking out the seeds to roast for a delicious family snack. You can make a heck of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin stock for soup, and pumpkin casserole, and I'm sure there are more pumpkin meals out there that I don't know about.

Parents helping children in carving pumpkins
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The great thing about pumpkins is there are so many things you can do with them, trust me when I'm saying I just scratched the surface. The really cool thing is, all the things I mentioned you can do with your kids and not have fun together, but teach them what to do so they can pass it down generation after generation.

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