All Things Pumpkin
Tis’ the season to make everything pumpkin! Everywhere you turn there is something with pumpkin in it, lattes, candles, facial cream. Everything. But, how can you bring back pumpkin to its original place, the garden.
Here are 3 fun ways to keep pumpkin in the garden this fall.
- Pumpkin Planter
Pumpkin planters are an adorable way to plant seasonal flowers and keep them fed, through their natural nutrients. Here is how to create your own pumpkin planter;
What you will need:
- Large pumpkin
- Carving tools
- Any plant you desire
- Water
To make your pumpkin planter, hollow out the center of your pumpkin in proportion to the liner around your plant.
Cut out a small opening at the bottom of your pumpkin to let out any loose water. (This will help keep the pumpkin from rotting early.)
Last, simply place your plant in the hollow pumpkin and water.
How easy was that!
- Classic Jack-O-Lantern
There is nothing that screams fall more than Jack-O-Lanterns.
Since most already know how to create a Jack-O-Lantern, we thought it might be fun just to share some brief history about what made them such a popular fall tradition.
Originally, Jack-O-Lanterns were an old Celtic tradition, but they were not created with pumpkins. In ancient Ireland they did not have pumpkins and would use Turnips instead. The Irish brought the tradition of carving vegetables and placing an ember in them to scare evil spirits to the Americas in the 1840s. The carving evolved into pumpkins over time and remained a Halloween tradition!
- Composting Pumpkins
After all the pumpkin projects, and buckets of gooey guts, what is a gardener to do with all this remaining pumpkin? Compost of course!
Composting a pumpkin is easy. Take any leftover Jack-O-Lanterns, or extra pumpkins bought at the store and place them in the desired spots around your garden. (Be sure that all pumpkins are cleaned out of seeds and other materials.)
Have a smashing party! Crush those pumpkins into mushy little pieces. This is a great time to invite the kids or grandchildren out to the garden!
Lay a thin layer of leaves over the top of the pumpkin.
Let the Sun and nature do its work!
While pumpkin lattes are tasty, and pumpkin candles smell wonderful, it’s good to get pumpkins back to where they come from. With so many nutrients and variations of decoration they provide for the garden, why take them out of there in the first place? Enjoy these pumpkin projects and have a wonderful fall!
Happy Gardening!
