Want to reduce your household food waste and get savvy with leftover pumpkin seeds after you've carved your creation? Try growing your own at-home pumpkin patch in time for next Halloween, it only requires a few simple steps!

Choose an area of your garden that gets plenty of sun, and mark spaces for planting about eight feet apart to give your pumpkins the best chance to grow. Ensure that the holes that you've plotted are around 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide, then add a layer of aged compost to the hole. Do this shortly after Halloween to begin prepping the soil. Pumpkin season starts around mid-September, so keep your seeds safe and plant them around six months before - roughly March/April. When pumpkins come into season, watch as your patch produces goods that are perfect for carving some spooky designs in to!

Enjoy the vegetable of Halloween in many ways this year, and experiment with your own pumpkin creations - from carving exciting designs to cooking up a pumpkin-based feast with your leftovers! Enjoy new flavours everyday with HelloFresh, order your first meal delivery box today, and be tempted by our recipes.

Reducing food waste is crucial to helping our planet, being sustainable and making the most of the food available, and pumpkin leftovers offer a whole host of possibilities. Here are just a few ideas.

Roasted pumpkin seeds make a crunchy snack or salad topper. Pureed pumpkin can enrich soups, stews, or sauces, adding flavour and nutrients. Leftover pumpkin can also star in baked goods like muffins, pancakes, or bread. Freeze puree in portions for future recipes. Composting pumpkin scraps returns nutrients to the soil. Consider feeding wildlife or pets with safe, raw pumpkin scraps. Transform extra pumpkin into homemade beauty products like face masks or hair treatments.

Embracing creativity in the kitchen not only minimises waste but also unlocks delicious innovations so that you and the family can enjoy the taste of autumn knowing you’ve done your bit in reducing waste in the kitchen.