7 Ways To Use Your Leftover Pumpkins From Halloween In Western New York

This time of year, you'll see pumpkins all over the neighborhood. People use them for decorations and they'll carve them into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. But what do you do with them once the holiday is over? Should you just throw them out? Or can you use them for other things?

There are a lot of things you can do with them, but they will be determined by how you used the pumpkin for decoration.

Pumpkin is the fruit that people buy but never eat

When we think of pumpkins, a lot of people forget that they're actually a fruit. Most people don't even think of them as being edible. They just think of them as decorations. In reality, though, there are so many ways that they could be used. Even if you don't want to eat them, there are other animals that would love to. You just need to know what to do with them.

Don't eat them, if these two things are true

There are some situations when you wouldn't want to eat your leftover pumpkins. One of those would include if you've used bleach to preserve the pumpkin. Some people do this with a solution of bleach and water that they spray on it. The bleach tends to kill the fungi that often break down the pumpkin so they'll last a little longer after you've carved them. If you've already done that, you're probably going to want to just throw them out.

Some theories say the bleach will break down and not harm wildlife. If you plan to donate them to a farm, you should make sure the farmer knows that the pumpkins have been treated with bleach.

If they're already rotten you shouldn't eat them either. Many of the suggestions below are for pumpkins that haven't been carved yet. Once they've shriveled up, it's time to let them go.