New life for seasonal pumpkins

When the excitement of Halloween is over and you have a redundant pumpkin, there are many good uses you can put it to. One word of warning. Throwing away pumpkins or dumping them in nature causes environmental harm and risks wildlife health.

But it is still good food, so it would be such a shame to waste a pumpkin as it can be turned into puree, sweet bakes or roasted snacks. Waitrose, the BBC and other sources have some brilliant recipes from soups to full meals you can try.

You could turn your pumpkin into a bird feeder:

By creating holes in your pumpkin and adding some sticks in the side for birds to perch on, you can fill your pumpkin with bird seed to create a natural yummy treat for your garden birds this autumn.

Birds can also eat the pumpkin seeds. Just dry them out first at 180°C for 10 minutes.
You can also create compost for your garden.

Cut up your leftover pumpkin into chunks and bury them in some soil to feed your garden mini beasts. The worms will love them.

Don’t leave chunks out for above-ground animals though, especially hedgehogs. Pumpkins act as a powerful laxative and are too high in fibre for animals like hedgehogs, leading to severe diarrhoea, dangerous dehydration, and even death.