By Britt Collins, Contributing Writer
On Nov. 4, members of the Center for Public Service (CPS) and the Painted Turtle Farm held a Pumpkin Smashing event from 4-6 p.m. Students were invited to join volunteers at the Painted Turtle Farm to smash pumpkins and improve their compost efforts. Students were invited regardless of whether they had their own pumpkin and were also provided hot apple cider and music.
Upon smashing the pumpkins, the leftover pulp was ridded of any seeds and thrown into a pile among other composted materials. Pumpkins consist of beneficial organic matter that can be used to create a compost mixture and further improve plant growth through better soil.
Coordinator of Sustainability Initiatives with CPS Meghan Clark described how repurposing the pumpkin flesh can benefit the farm as a whole.
“Pumpkin nutrients are really good for supporting compost and ours hasn’t been the most functional lately, so we think that adding the nutrients from the pumpkin will help us start up a new pile,” Clark explained.
Molly Hoffman ’24 was inspired to coordinate the event after seeing rows of rotting pumpkins, wondering how the pumpkin flesh could produce better compost and in turn, fertile soil.
“I had seen all of the pumpkins outside the frats just rotting after Halloween, and I Googled it. Sure enough, you just mash it up and put it right in,” Hoffman said.
This is the first year that the Painted Turtle Farm has had an event to repurpose pumpkins, and Hoffman is sure it will be a recurring one.
