Farm pigs have their fill of donated leftover pumpkins
PIGS and chickens at The Soil Farm will be feasting on leftover Halloween pumpkins for a while.
Around 300 pumpkins have been delivered to The Soil Farm over the last few days following Halloween activities island-wide, mostly pumpkin carving. In fact, so many that it is not accepting any more.
‘We’ve been inundated this year with pumpkins,’ said Sasha Marsh, owner and director of The Soil Farm.
At The Soil Farm the pumpkins help to make feed for pigs and chickens who enjoy the orange treat, especially the pigs, who love pumpkins.
Those not eaten by the animals will go into compost and in a couple of weeks all traces of pumpkin will be gone.
The farm enjoys being able to provide a service that benefits both sides. Keeping the nutrients from the pumpkins on-island is important and ‘if pumpkins are composted, the energy can be used for good and recycled back into the garden,’ said Miss Marsh.
Pumpkins are food, not waste and should not be binned in a normal rubbish bin.
Pumpkins put into bins would most likely be transported to the UK and placed in landfill where they will emit methane and take up to 20 years to fully decompose.
‘Composting is much more efficient and breaks down the pumpkin properly,’ said Miss Marsh.
