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The Organic Gardener
Recycle old Jack-o-Lanterns!
 

By R.J. Schwitzenberg
OC Voice Columnist
(Oct. 2007)

When slaughtering a pumpkin in order to gouge out a glowing grimace, don’t forget you garden ecology!

Preferably, you should source your organic fair trade pumpkin from a local farmers’ market.

Stage your chopping block by draping aggregate sheets of a newspaper (other than the Orange Coast Voice) over the kitchen table. Once you butcher your prize, the fibrous lignin will absorb pumpkin guts
.
The seeds can be set on a tray to dry and planted next season for a prolific pumpkin crop. Rip out your unsustainable lawn, and plant a charming pumpkin patch.

Any seeds not used for planting should be rinsed, soaked in salt water and lightly roasted. This nutritious snack is a perfect element to add to your aggregate trail mix.

Scrape the stringy interior of the pumpkin wall and dump the slimy ooze on your dingy newsprint surface.

Gouge out eyeballs, nostrils, and a sardonic grin, etc. The pumpkin plugs can be disposed of with the aggregate scrapings or skinned, cooked, and eaten as pumpkin pie, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin jelly, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin stir-fry, pumpkin beer, etc.

Once the Jack-o-lantern is adequately sculpted and ready for porch duty, bundle up the detritus in a crinkly mess. Deliver this pumpkin package to your compost pile.

Days later, gently remove your sagging lantern from your porch. Remove any candles or foreign objects, and introduce the black mold of death into the compost jaws of life.

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Oct. 2007

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