Those gourds on your porch are superfoods, not landfill litter
Porch pumpkin displays can be stunning, but they lose some of their luster in the glow of Christmas lights.
So, as we roll from one holiday to the next, is it time to pack up the pumpkins and haul them off to the trash?
Absolutely not, says Nestor Estrada, founder of Bella Hampton Farm Foundation. To us they may be rotting gourds, but to the animals he cares for, they’re a delicious, nutrient-packed, superfood.
“How long did it take that pumpkin to grow to that size? How much money did we spend on that pumpkin?” he asked. “And then all of a sudden, we’re just going to throw it away when we can really nourish all these animals?”
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The residents of Bella Hampton Farm Foundation include 23 dogs, 16 cats, two alpacas, three donkeys, 11 goats, 27 geese, two turkey toms, 45 chicks, three cows, a bull, two horses, and what Estrada called an insane number of ducks.
Many of the animals at the 501(c)(3) nonprofit are rescues or retirees, and they all love pumpkin.
But the orange squashes are much more than treats. Pumpkin seeds are a natural dewormer, which means that Estrada can save on medication.
“And the fiber, and the nutrients, and the vitamins within the pumpkins are amazing,” he added.
Bella Hampton uses or shares every part of its donated gourds.
Volunteers help Estrada process and freeze the flesh of high-quality pumpkins for future consumption by animals. Bella Hampton makes pumpkin pies to donate to humans in need at Thanksgiving.
And as for pumpkin skins, Estrada throws those to his chickens instead of in the trash. What’s left when the chickens and nocturnal passersby, such as skunks and possums, have eaten their fill is incorporated into the ground and enriches the soil.
University Park resident Stefani McMurrey Watters, with help from her children Wright, Loraina, and Lorelei, has been collecting gourds for Bella Hampton for the past several years.
“It just broke my heart thinking about essentially wasted food,” McMurrey Waters explained. “It’s like literally throwing away money.”
But pumpkin pickup in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow isn’t as easy as pie.
Big homes call for scaled-up gourds, including some that weigh more than 100 pounds and require equipment such as a dolly to maneuver. Pumpkins that have been left to rot in the Texas heat don’t smell sweet and can be messy to transport.
Demand for pumpkin pickup is so high that one year the McMurrey Watters family delivered about 3,500 pumpkins to Bella Hampton — so many that the farm eventually had enough to feed all its animals and McMurrey Watters sent the remainder to a pig farm.
The family charges a flat fee of $40 to collect a dozen or fewer reasonably-sized pumpkins, and $10 extra for every squash that requires special equipment to lift.
Loraina, a sophomore at Highland Park High School, plans to use the money to fund her church mission trip to Costa Rica, and Wright, a student at Texas A&M, will put his pumpkin proceeds towards his tuition. But the family would love to see a more coordinated, area-wide effort to bring pumpkins to animals in need.
The squashes have value, Estrada said. They aren’t easy to grow. He tried it, and all his pumpkins died in his poor soil.
“Realistically what it takes to produce a pumpkin, and then we just toss it?” he asked with a laugh. “But it could do so much.”
