Don't know what to do with leftover pumpkins? This farm is part of a group collecting them
CBC News | Posted: November 6, 2023 12:29 PM | Last Updated: November 6, 2023
Pumpkins can be dropped off at listed locations until Nov. 7
A group of Oxford County residents is collecting leftover pumpkins, gourds, and squashes in what they call the "great pumpkin rescue" to prevent them from going into landfills. Instead, they're putting them to good use as feed for livestock.
Almost 2.2 million tonnes of edible food is wasted each year in Canada, according to the group. They are collecting the pumpkins until at least Nov. 7, but that can vary depending on location, with some farms taking donations until the middle of the month.
Matt McCutchen, co-owner of Sam Boyse' Northlane Farm in Thamesford, Ont., outside of London, has been collecting pumpkins for about eight years now.
McCutchen and his partner, Boyse, decided to do this after they stumbled upon "a mountain" of pumpkins outside a waste management facility and thought they could make for some good food for the animals on their farm, he said.
"Once they go to the township's collecting yard, they're just composted basically, so this way at least it gets used for animal feed or compost to help grow crops for the next year," he said.
McCutchen said he's expecting an influx of drop offs as the weather starts getting colder. His advice is to make sure pumpkins don't have preservatives in them, which can be harmful for livestock that ingests it, and to make sure pumpkins are clean don't have any Halloween decorations in them.
Where to drop them off?
Since starting in 2021, the pumpkin rescue has become a fall tradition in the southwestern Ontario county. Here is a list of where pumpkins can be dropped off:
- Good Nature Eco Farm, 135148 13th Line, Thamesford N0M 2M0
- Kiwanis' Community Garden, 108 Wonham Street South, Ingersoll, N5C 3V2
- Lara Martin-Dow and Stephen Dow, Rolling Stone Boers, 375158 37th Line Zorra Township
- Little Hobby Hill Farm, 333624 Plank Line, Salford ON N0J1W0
- Little Fields Farm, 867207 Township Rd 10, Bright, ON N0J 1B0
- Milky Way Farm (Meaghan Brandenburg) 484872 Sweaburg Rd, Woodstock, ON N4S 7V
- Purses and Things, 584592 Beachville Road, Beachville, ON N0J1A0.
- Sam Boyse' Northlane Farm 662742 Road 66 Thamesford, ON N0M 2M0
- The Smith's 70 Glenn Avenue, Sweaburg, South-West Oxford, ON N4S 7V6
- Tillsonburg Transfer Station, 50 Newell Rd, Tillsonburg, ON N0J 1H0
- Travis Palen's Farm 345548 Quacker St, Norwich, ON N0J 1P0
- Woodstock Enviro-Depot, 944 James St. Woodstock, ON N4S 085