Food savvy seasonal tips and hints

This month we are focusing on pumpkins and Halloween!

The scariest thing about Halloween?

It’s not the ghouls and ghosts, the vampires or the werewolves; the scariest thing about Halloween is the amount of pumpkins that are thrown away every year-18,000 tonnes!!

In studies commissioned by Knorr and environmental charity Hubbub they found that:

in the UK, 8 million pumpkins are thrown away, the equivalent of enough pumpkin pie to feed the entire nation
58% of consumers buy pumpkins only for Halloween
95% of pumpkins grown in the UK are bought at Halloween
51% bin the flesh when hollowing out for carving

While nearly 75% of people dispose of the flesh in an environmentally way such as composting or put into a food waste collection, but only 33% actually eat the flesh!

Keeping Halloween green

Try one of these things to help you keep Halloween as green as possible:

don’t carve the pumpkin at all If you aren’t planning on it
it won’t be popular, but as more people are doing pumpkin trails this year with drawings in the windows similar to the NHS ones during COVID-19, this may not be too much of an issue
buy vegetables you are more likely to eat
obviously it’s difficult to carve a carrot, and even a turnip which was traditionally the vegetable for carving in the UK for Halloween (the pumpkin tradition came from America)
you could carve a butternut squash, although they aren’t really the right shape, but they use less water when being grown and are cheaper to buy
if you buy a pumpkin, eat the flesh Hollow the pumpkin out as much as possible to create a thin shell – this will help the pumpkin glow more and give you more flesh to eat
there’s lots of health benefits of eating pumpkins and their seeds
please don’t buy plastic pumpkins as they are a waste of precious resources

Are you buying a pumpkin?

Think local! There are pumpkin farms and farm shops across Worcestershire where there will be lots of different varieties for eating and carving.

Many farm shops also offer pumpkin trails and carving for children.

How about having a go at growing your own for next year? You can choose the best variety of pumpkin for you.

The benefits of eating pumpkins

pumpkin is a great source of potassium and beta-carotene, which is a carotenoid that converts to vitamin A
pumpkin also contains minerals including calcium, magnesium and vitamins B, C and E
pumpkin seeds may be small, but they have loads of nutrients
like nuts, pumpkin seeds are a great source of protein and unsaturated fats including omega 3
they are also a good source of iron, selenium and zinc (source: BBC Good Food)
soak the seeds in salt water to remove the skins then roast in the oven, here’s a great pumpkin recipe from the Love Food Hate Waste website

The best pumpkins for eating

Pumpkins from your local supermarket are edible, but often lack the flavour and texture needed for cooking. ere are the best pumpkins for cooking with – you may need to seek them out at a farm shop but will be well worth the effort.

Sweet Dumpling

This small squash can be orange and yellow or white and green as pictured.

They are around the size of a large cricket ball and are great for stuffing and cooking individually

Cinderella

These look like the classic pumpkin turned into a carriage in the fairy tale – hence the name.

They are quite large and have a creamy, slightly sweet flavour and are best for making pumpkin pie.

Crown Prince Squash

Silvery blue skin and a bright orange flesh, this squash is great for soups or roasting and has a taste similar to sweet potato.

How to carve a pumpkin

Cut a hole in the top or bottom of the pumpkin. The bottom is best for putting in the light.
Remove seeds and as much flesh as possible. Thinner walls will help the lantern glow better.
Use LED lights instead of candles as they are safer and don’t go out if it’s windy.
Children should be supervised as pumpkins are slippery little suckers and could result in cuts to fingers.

How to compost your pumpkin

There are two ways to compost your pumpkin at home – with and without a compost bin. Pumpkins are 100% biodegradable, which will happen pretty quickly wherever you leave it.

Without a compost bin

smash the pumpkin into pieces or use a spade to chop it up
find a shady spot in your garden and dig a hole big enough to fit the pieces
lace pumpkin into the soil and cover. Nature will now take over and rot it down, fertilising your soil in the process.

With a compost bin

smash the pumpkin into pieces or use a spade to chop it up
place the pumpkin pieces in the bin
the pumpkin has a high water content so you will have to balance this out with some dry materials
leaves are great and there will be plenty around at this time of year, but if you don’t have many leaves, scrunched up newspaper, cardboard or ripped up egg boxes will work well
let nature do its work and rot the pumpkin down to leave you with some great home compost for the Spring!
or, give the pumpkin to someone who’ll love it!

The animals at the West Midlands Safari Park love their pumpkins and so do pigs and chickens. If you know anybody who has pigs, they will be very grateful!