Another season of pumpkin picking across the North Fork has come and gone, and guess what, we survived. Now, what to do with all of those pumpkins you picked from the vine? You could cut them, scoop them, cube them, and make them into pies and stews. But if we’re being honest, they’ll likely end up in your garbage can.
Before you do that, we have a much better plan for those pumpkins now that Halloween is over – donate them to the animals at local North Fork farms.
“We’re firm believers in the importance of reducing the amount of organic materials entering the waste stream,” said Thomas Hart of Deep Roots Farm. “We feed a lot of food scraps to the animals and compost whatever we can’t feed them. A varied diet is really important for the animals and it helps us cut back on our feed bill.”
Keep in mind, farms the below farms only accept uncarved, non-painted pumpkins. (If you’ve carved your pumpkin, consider composting it: Remove any seeds, cut into pieces, and over loosely with a bed of leaves or wood chips.)
Deep Roots Farm located at 57685 Main Road in Southold has community compost drop-off buckets on the side of their farm stand. Folks can leave pumpkins besides those buckets. The farm also welcomes those donating pumpkins to visit their animals and feed them. Email Thomas at [email protected] to arrange.
Feisty Acres located at 45375 County Road 48 in Southold, is also taking pumpkin donations. Specializing in pasture-raised game birds and specialty poultry, Feisty Acres’ turkeys and chickens look forward to feasting on this season’s pumpkin bounty. Email Abra at [email protected] to arrange a drop-off.
Goodale Farms located at 250 Main Road in Riverhead is known to take donations of produce and trees throughout the year – don’t forget to donate your Christmas tree after the holiday season, the goats love them! The farm is currently accepting pumpkins. Leave them at your leisure in a bin outside near the farm stand.
Shared Table Farmhouse located at 425 Jacobs Lane in Southold is accepting carved and uncarved pumpkins this season, just not painted. They will also be taking Christmas trees when the time comes as well. Feel free to leave your donations near the barn.
