The Great Pumpkin Rescue in Oxford County

Thursday, 29 October 2020 17:26

Residents in Oxford County can donate their unwanted pumpkins, decorative squash and gourds at four locations this year once Halloween is over.

OXFORD COUNTY - Residents in Oxford County can donate their unwanted pumpkins, decorative squash and gourds once Halloween is over.

The Great Pumpkin Rescue, where they've been used for dinners in the past or given to farms to feed pigs.

Co-organizer Bryan Smith says it was first started by Woodstock's Tom Butler, who is a member of the environmental advisory committee for the City of Woodstock.

"On George Street, there's going to be a big pile of pumpkins following Halloween when people are finished with them as decorations. And in Sweaburg, on my lawn, there are four giant bins, any one of which, which is the size of a small car which we hope will be full of pumpkin squash and small gourds."

Smith says pumpkins are already being dropped now. He says it's become popular since it started two years ago.

"Firstly, it means that people are understanding that a pumpkin shouldn't go in a garbage, in which case it goes in a dump and produces methane. So it's people realizing that they can avoid contributing to climate change if they are more careful with what they do with organic products when they're done with them. The other thing that makes me very happy about this is I know that despite the fact that Oxford County produces all sorts of wonderful food and exports it all over the place, that there are hungry people in the County."

Smith adds pumpkins can be dropped off at four locations this year including his home on 70 Glenn Avenue in Sweaburg, at the Greener Pastures Eco Farm in Blandford-Blenheim at 774766 Oxford Rd 14, another farm in Thamesford at 662742 Road 66 t or on 573 George Street in Woodstock. Smith says at the farm in Thamesford you can toss your pumpkins over the fence and watch the animals go into a frenzy eating the pumpkins.

Pumpkins cannot, however, be used if they have been painted or tainted, or if they have been left out for months where the gourds could become mouldy as a result.

The initiative goes until November 5th.