How to compost your old pumpkin and fall decorations

   Throwing away your rotting pumpkin after Halloween can make for an unpleasant experience. The smell alone makes you second guess carving pumpkins next year, thankfully we all tend to forget about our conviction when it comes time to decorate next year. I mean, we all love fall decorations. So what if there is a better, and more beneficial, way to get rid of your old pumpkin? Composting is the thing for you.
    Before we get into a step by step for how to best compost your old pumpkin. Pumpkin planters are a cool way to decorate your home for the fall.

   Pumpkin Planters are simple, festive and can make your home, or yard, look fall and Halloween ready. Depending on where you live, plant something that could survive a frosty winter night, some succulents or pansies. If you would like to make a Pumpkin Planter for yourself, here are the step by step instructions.

1. Take an 8 inch or larger pot and put the top half on your pumpkin. Trace around the pot on the pumpkin.
   
2. Carve out the top of the pumpkin along the traced line. If you have not already, remove the insides of the pumpkin.
   
3. Poke holes in a plastic bag and place the plants in the bag. This makes it much easier to transfer out of the pumpkin to the ground when you want to compost the pumpkin.
   

    You can take your new Pumpkin Planter and put it around your fireplace or entryway. Make several with different sized pumpkins for a full Pumpkin Planter garden. Placing your pumpkins away from direct sunlight will increase their longevity.

Anyone who has lived here in the South knows that once you put the pumpkin outside you have a good three days before nature starts to run its course. There are precautions you can take that will increase how long the pumpkin will last. This article on Mother Nature Network details multiple ways to make your hard work last longer. Check their article out here.

When Halloween is over with, or your pumpkins start to turn, now it’s time for you to try your hand at composting. If you have never tried it before no worries it is much easier than you’d think.

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1. Pick out a spot in your yard. The sunnier the faster the pumpkin will compost.
   
2. Remove what you potted and any wax or residue if you used it before as a jack-o-lantern.
   
3. Now comes the fun part, smash the pumpkin up in the spot you designated.
   
4. Cover the smashed pumpkin with a layer of leaves.
   

    Now let nature run its course. Soon your pumpkins will turn into great rich soil that you can even replant what you had in the Pumpkin Planter. The same process works for gourds and winter squash. Let mother nature help you out with your fall planting this year.