A couple of weekends ago we took the kids to Howard and Mable’s, a local farm with a giant pumpkin patch. They drive you out to the field in a wagon pulled by a couple of their beautiful Belgian draft horses. They sell pumpkins, squash, gourds, broom corn and Indian corn. Later this weekend I’ll post some pictures from that outing.
So Matt got to talking with Howard, and I’m not sure whose idea it was, but the result was that after Halloween we ended up with 2 wagon loads full of pumpkins for free.
We throw several to the livestock each day, more as a treat than a meal. The pigs and chickens go crazy over them. The cows wouldn’t eat them at first, but now they’ll munch on them if we give them the very soft pumpkins. They eat the seeds and pulp, then Matt takes the pitchfork and pitches out the rinds when they’re done. They should compost nicely.
Pumpkin seeds are supposed to be a natural wormer, although I think they’re more effective if ground or chopped rather than eaten whole. Of course my dad and my brother think this is bunk and are having a good laugh at my expense. Story of my life.
The pigs seem to be enjoying the pumpkins..