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What To Do With Your Pumpkin: Smashing, Roasting, or Bowling?

Halloween is over and Spooky Season has come to a close. While most Halloween décor gets packed up and stored for another year, pumpkins are not so lucky. I’ve always…

Pumpkin

LONDON – OCTOBER 31: A child enjoys traditional candle-lit Halloween pumpkins on October 31, 2007 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

(Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Halloween is over and Spooky Season has come to a close. While most Halloween décor gets packed up and stored for another year, pumpkins are not so lucky.

I've always wondered what alternatives there are to throwing out the jack-o-lantern. There has to be a better use for it than just taking it to the transfer station or throwing it out. Turns out there are a ton of different options! From smashing the pumpkin to pumpkin bowling, it turns out there are plenty of uses for that discarded jack-o-lantern.

Roast The Seeds

Make Pumpkin Bread

Make a PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte)

Smash Them!

Looking to blow off a little steam? Need to burn off that sugar rush from eating all the kids candy? Pumpkin smashing is a Halloween Tradition dating back over a hundred years.

"By the end of the 20th century, pumpkin smashers had inserted themselves as Halloween mainstays." - Modern Farmer

Compost It

Feed The Wildlife

A smashed pumpkin is perfect for wildlife! Leave it outside and watch the birds and deer finish it off.

Bury It

If you don't have an established composter, burying your pumpkin is an excellent choice! Over time the pumpkin will decompose and enrich the surrounding soil. Besides... the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" comes to mind.

Use It As A Planter

This is a perfect way to bring out your creative side while making the perfect fall planter!

No farm near you? Donate it to a local community garden!

Pumpkin Pie

With Friendsgiving on the horizon, and Thanksgiving after that, making a pie is the perfect way to use up any pumpkins you have! Or, if you don't want to wait, who is to say you can't make a pumpkin pie just for fun...

Pumpkin Bowling

Looking for a family bonding experience? Look no further! By setting up some empty two litter bottles or paper towel rolls,  you can make the perfect at home bowling ally. Use the pumpkin like a bowling ball and try and knock down the pins!

Plant The Seeds

If you have your own pumpkin patch there is no reason to get dressed up in matching outfits and drive forty five minutes for a photo shoot when you can just do it at home!

Ayla Brown has been an on-air morning show host with Country 102.5 since 2018. Before taking this once-in-a-lifetime job, Ayla was (and still is) a country music singer. In 2006, she placed 13th on American Idol. In 2012 and 2013 she celebrated her Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium debut, and over the years she has visited 13 countries overseas to sing for the American Troops. Country music is in Ayla Brown’s soul. Not only does she sing it, but she gets to talk about it every day on “Country Mornings with Jonathan and Ayla.” Ayla is happily married to singer-songwriter, Rob Bellamy, and they welcomed a son named Barrett in August of 2022. In her free time, she loves to sew baby bibs and experiment with new recipes in the kitchen. She also loves to travel and try new foods. Ayla writes about Boston area happenings, parenting, holistic lifestyle and living, and travel.