Whole pumpkins that are still fresh and "solid" can be eaten. Of course, this assumes that they haven't been painted. First, scoop out the seeds and the stringy insides. The seeds can be roasted for a healthy snack or saved and planted in next year's garden (most pumpkin cultivars are open-pollinated, so you should get what you expect.) The loose stringy insides of the pumpkin can, of course, be composted. Roast the fleshy walls of the pumpkin, mash the roasted flesh with a big fork or food processor, and add some brown sugar and butter or margarine for a tasty puree... or, make some pumpkin pies!
Carved pumpkins are rarely suitable for eating after Halloween. So, your first choice should be to compost them. Cut the pumpkins into smaller pieces with a knife or with your shovel to speed up the decomposition. If your compost pile or bin has had a lot of "green" material added to it, add shredded brown leaves or a small helping of sawdust to help balance the green to brown ratio. Too much green material can make a compost pile smell like a garbage heap.
If you don't have a compost pile or bin, now is a great time to start one... in most parts of the country, you'll probably have access to lots of fall leaves, which is the single best ingredient for making great compost.
If you can't compost your old pumpkin the traditional way, you can still add it to your garden instead of adding it to the trash stream. Step 1 is to cut it up into very small pieces, or run it through a food processor or blender. Step 2 is to "bury" the small pieces or slurry in your vegetable garden or around your perennials. Scoop away some of the soil, add the pumpkin, and cover it with several inches of soil. It's important to have a relatively low concentration of vegetable material in any one spot, and to have a good soil cover to avoid attracting skunks, bears, or other nuisance critters.
Don't want to compost your pumpkin? Perhaps you can offer your old pumpkin to a friend who has a compost pile. Maybe he or she will return the favor by sharing some compost with you next spring.
If you live on a farm or have several acres of wooded property, you already know that you can use unpainted pumpkins to feed some livestock and some wild game, as well. Although the wild game might appreciate it, don't toss you pumpkin into someone else's wooded acreage without their permission. That form of recycling is considered littering by most folks.
Do you live near a zoo? Many zoos will happily accept old carved pumpkins to use as food for the animals. And, a zoo visit at this time of the year can be a pleasant change of pace. Of course, you should call or check the zoo's web site before lugging your pumpkin to the zoo entrance!
Eat it, compost it, or share it with a composting friend or farmer. Please don't trash it.
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