Hooray! Hooray!
Today is compost day.

On Friday and Saturday I went around a local neighborhood in my wheelchair-- so I skipped all the houses with steep hills and stairs. The others with Jack-o Lanterns got a visist, with me offering a card and a free pickup of the Jack-o Lanterns after Halloween.

Today my husband and I went to the 22 houses that said yes, and got a full pick-up of wilted jach-o-lanterns. Also got a bale of straw and three pumpkins without a mark, and seven or eight with only a few pokes. They were decorated like a Mr Potato head.

So today (and for several more) I will be processing pulp, roasting seeds and drying strips of pumpkin. My husband will have a massive compost heap.

Not bad for a few hours work.

GREAT IDEA!! One of those "Why didn't I think of that???? " ideas. A gold mine in your own neighbor!!
Around here corn shocks are popular--they'd be pretty good cut or shredded and added to the compost as well.

I second that - great idea!

Fabulous idea!


Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and witness the evolution of an Organic Kitchen Garden.

Today I put the last slices of pumpkin in the dehydrator, and I have several packets of frozen pumpkin in the freezer. We ended up with three pumpkins that hadn't been touched by knife or poked by something, so I am saving those for later in the winter.

Yesterday we made a batch of pumpkin cookies.

I kept the poked ones for the kitchen, and Jay took the carved ones for the compost. He smashed them, covered them with straw, then a layer of cardboard and then some leaves. Made a pile 6x8 feet, and about 2 feet high.


Mindwing

I've started "stealing" leaves from the neighbor and got 16 bags from one house--and she's not halfway through yet. Got my eye on others, but it's been raining since about 3 AM today or I'd have gotten some more today. Now to find some "green" to put with it.

Great job!

Neighbor of mine used to go around collecting them after Halloween. He'd set them up in the garden and use them for target practice. He'd throw a layer of mulch over them and come spring he'd have his own pumpkin patch.

Now I could get into that!! Target practice and garden too!

wiley, i live in a very urban area, and i hit up my neighbors when they're MOWING, that way i get green AND brown

If anyone around here bagged their grass I would too!!

Way to go! Great idea that I'm going to try to remember until next year. I like the free pumpkin idea and the target practice idea as well! We murdered a whole mess of hedge apples last year! We can put down a tarp and transfer the compost ingredients to the compost pile when we're done since target practice in my garden isn't practical.