Halloween’s over, and your pumpkins are still sitting on the porch—maybe even starting to collapse a little. They were cute at first, but now you’re just walking by them wondering: Do I have to deal with these today? Can I wait?
I love Halloween, but afterward I never know what to do with the decorations. I hate packing them up, and I hate throwing them away.
Then the questions start: Can I compost a pumpkin? Can animals eat it? Is it just trash now? My husband doesn’t even like Halloween, so as soon as it’s done, he wants everything gone. If I don’t come up with something useful, the pumpkins (and all the decorations) just end up in the garbage.
Most people just toss them. That’s the usual. But if you’re not in the mood to stuff a collapsing pumpkin into a trash bag and pretend it’s fine, there are actually a bunch of other things you can do. You just kind of have to know what those things are, and maybe decide how much effort you feel like putting in.
First off, don’t throw them in the trash (yet)
You can, obviously. No one’s stopping you. But once you know that pumpkins are basically just big squashes and totally compostable, chucking them into a landfill starts to feel… not great? Especially when you consider how much food waste already ends up there. Plus, they just rot in plastic and release methane. Not fun.
So yeah — if they’re not moldy, and especially if they’re uncarved or still mostly intact, there’s still life in ’em. Or, well, usefulness. You get what I mean.
Animals will totally eat them
If you’ve got a yard or even just a small patch of outdoor space, you can just put the pumpkin out there. Squirrels, birds, raccoons, deer — depends where you live — they’ll find it. The skin is a little thick, so if you want to be helpful, breaking it open helps. Like give it a little whack. Just enough so the insides are more accessible.
Don’t put anything out that’s painted, by the way. Animals shouldn’t be eating craft paint or glitter glue. So if you painted a face on your pumpkin with stuff from the dollar store, maybe skip the wildlife buffet idea.
But a plain pumpkin? Totally fair game. Cut it up, scatter it around, or just leave chunks in a corner of the yard and let nature do the cleanup.
If it’s still got seeds, you can roast those
A lot of people scoop the seeds out before carving, but if you didn’t, and your pumpkin’s still in good shape, the seeds are probably still salvageable. Scoop them out, rinse them off, dry them a little, and then roast them in the oven. Nothing fancy — 300°F, toss with oil and salt or cinnamon or whatever, and check every 10–15 minutes until they look toasted. That’s it.
Also, yeah, you can keep a few seeds and try to plant them next year. If you’re into that. Just dry them out completely and store them somewhere that’s not damp or gross.
Compost it if that’s something you do (or want to do)
If you already compost, I don’t need to tell you this. Pumpkins are great compost material. They’re soft-ish, break down quickly, and have moisture that helps the process. Just chop it into chunks, toss it in with your yard clippings or whatever else is in there, and done.
If you don’t compost, and you’ve maybe been thinking about it but haven’t actually started… honestly, this is a good first step. You don’t even need a bin. Dig a shallow hole in your backyard, drop the pumpkin in there, cover it with dirt. That’s it. That’s composting. You did it.
You can also just pile it in a corner with leaves. Not as neat, but it works.
Some cities collect pumpkins
Like, after Halloween, there are sometimes pumpkin drop-offs. You bring your old pumpkins and they turn them into compost or use them as farm feed or whatever. It’s way better than the trash.
Check your town’s website or, like, local Facebook groups. People usually post about it. Just make sure the pumpkin is clean — no wax, no paint, no candles still inside. Seems obvious, but still.
Can you eat the whole thing?
Meh. If it’s been outside for days or was carved and exposed to the air, probably not. Especially if it’s one of those big carving pumpkins — they’re not bred for flavor, and the texture’s kind of watery and stringy. But if you’ve got a smaller decorative pumpkin that’s been inside and still feels firm and clean, sure. You could roast it. Or turn it into soup. Just depends on how adventurous (and how hungry) you’re feeling.
You can repurpose them but… most people won’t
Some people get super crafty and turn pumpkins into planters or bird feeders or seasonal centerpieces or whatever. Cool if that’s your thing. Most of us aren’t gonna do that, though. Let’s be real. We’re trying to clean up the porch, not build a Pinterest project.
Whatever you do, do not just bag and trash it.
Don’t allow the pumpkin that helped to decorate your porch to end up sad and rotting in a bag. I mean, it has already served its purpose as a decorative object, so at the very least, it deserves more than to slowly decay inside a piece of plastic.
Smashing it and throwing it in the bushes is already a step up.
That’s really it, the advice here is to make things easier, make things less wasteful. Also, perhaps next year you can get an extra pumpkin for the birds, they will appreciate it more than you ever would have expected.
For next Halloween, you can keep them looking fresh much longer with our simple guide on how to preserve pumpkins.
