Where does the leftover vegetable meat go? Seed saver and feed all in one!

11-16-18

I was so blessed with many days of free pumpkins, gourds and squash that were slightly undesirable.  It was such a treat to bring them home every few days.  Besides being a seed saver, I had so many reasons to bring home the vegetables.

All my animals benefited from this.  I found myself driving into the Pumpkin patch parking lot every day just to see if they filled their trash can with the rotten or damaged goods.  I even carried around a little 3 step sadder so I can dumpster dive and reach the goods (I'M ONLY 5'2").  I seriously had such great joy every time, especially when there was a pumpkin I did not have in my seeds yet! I loved it!!  By the way, I had permission from the owners to take their throw aways.  Babylove, yeah, he didn't love it.  Most of the time I would take his truck.  Can you imagine the smell of pumpkin guts in the bed, with an Undercover on it in the 90 degree heat? Yep, it was SO stinky. I think the worst part was when he drove around, the insides would seep out the tailgate, seeds and all. He was not impressed. I had to sweep out and power wash out his bed often. (I still think it smells like ass)

For the most part I gave the pumpkins to the hogs.  I felt like it was great as a de-wormer and one or two a day would be a great feed that I didn't have to pay for!  They also got table scraps every day from the kitchen. They had trouble breaking it open, so I would try to smash it on the ground when throwing it over the hog panel.

Each chicken breeder pen would get a half of pumpkin per day.  They loved it all but the skin.  As soon as I threw it in there they would devour the seeds upon contact!!  Every day I had to remove the skin and stalk and place it in the compost pile.  The free rangers had one or two a day, plus whatever they decided to pick a hole in that day over by the hog paddock.

Science says its rich in Vitamin A and C with to many other benefits, why not give it to the animals? The only thing is it was very warm so some did start to rot.  If it was cold, these vegetables would be able to be stored in a cold dark place almost all winter. It did not last long here!!I was sad the day the pumpkin patch closed. Until next year!!









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