Pumpkin Succulent Porch Decor

It’s approximately a billion degrees outside and I’m ready for some fall inspiration people. Namely, I’m ready to get pumpkins on the front porch decor set up for the 3rd year in a row.

Our first full year in our home in Sacramento was feeling uninspired – it was 2020 after all. A local flower farmer who I’d followed on Instagram posted that she had some fun pumpkins for sale – a hodgepodge of sizes and colors.

I messaged her immediately and drove to her house to pick them up.

Pumpkins on the Porch

I brought the pumpkins home and immediately set them up on the front porch like so. Not only did I love the natural halloween and fall decor setup, but we got a lot of compliments on the look.

Wonderfully this set up goes from Halloween to Fall/Thanksgiving decor. After this, I actually gathered the pumpkins and placed them all in a corner on the porch and on the steps. September – December decor. Handled! And then my winter decor after Christmas is just as easy – though sans squash.

Last year, I wanted to recreate this setup. I mean pumpkin on the front porch is such an easy decoration. It’s a no brainer.

When I messaged the same person, she said she didn’t have any, but gave me a few regional farmers to reach out to.

After not too much work, I found Pixie Dust Flower Farm – located a mere 45 minutes from Sacramento. So we hauled the family (all 3 of us! ;)) and headed up to pick out our pumpkins!

Natural Halloween Decor

When you’re trying to do a natural Halloween setup, it can be a struggle. Halloween kicks off a holiday season filled with single-use, plastic-based products and items.

It’s nearly impossible to avoid, so anything we can do to cut back on that kind of single use waste is a must. It’s all part of how we’re making our home more sustainable!

Thankfully pumpkins on the front porch are just an extension of my other natural fall decor around the house!

What to Do With Pumpkins After Halloween

So. Here’s the million dollar question. Many people like to carve up their pumpkins, which is great fun, but you’ll note how quickly they begin to rot.

Want a truly scary fact? Pumpkins thrown into the trash go to the landfill and breakdown, releasing methane into the atmosphere. Cute decor becomes an environmental problem (not to mention the waste of the water and energy that went into growing the squash)

So what should you do?

First, sugar pumpkins and even those big jack-o-lantern pumpkins can easily be made into pumpkin puree for cooking! Sugar pumpkins are the best for this, however.

Pumpkin Puree Recipes

Once you have your pumpkin puree, try one of these pumpkin puree recipes.

Give Pumpkins to Feed Animals

So, the next best options after you eating the pumpkins is to give the pumpkins to animals to eat.

While the number of types of pumpkins we can consume is limited, nearly any kind of pumpkin is great food for birds, chickens, and larger animals.

If you don’t have your own such animals (like us!), there are a few options. One is to ask in your various Facebook groups if anyone does have animals that would eat these. There are also often community groups that can use them.

Alternatively, if you have wild animals in your area. You can cut up pumpkins into smaller pieces and leave them out for food. They will eventually rot, so you don’t want to just cut them up and the pieces around your lawn.

Composting Pumpkins

And, finally, composting pumpkins is a good option. Many cities in California, like here in Sacramento, are now doing organic waste collection (e.g. municipal composting). Pumpkins can go in there and turn into compost down the road!

Using Halloween pumpkins to feed humans and animals is certainly better than composting, but composting is a good alternative.