Welcome to Pumpkins for Pigs!
Our mission is to match pigs (and other pumpkin-eating animals) with un-carved, non-inked/non-painted pumpkins to prevent them from being thrown in the landfill.Donated pumpkins are excellent feed and a wonderful treat to the animals on the farms and sanctuaries. Pumpkins also make great compost. Thanksgiving comes up and we start moving to the next holiday but often our pumpkins are in perfectly fine shape, and its a waste to throw them out when they are still useful to feed the animals.
Donate your pumpkins to an Animal Farm or Sanctuary!
Donation Locations
We are expanding everyday so please visit this page often.
For a detailed listing, please select the appropriate State’s button below map or in the top menu.
Resources
Work With Your HOA
Want to make the most of your trip to the farm or sanctuary? Put up fliers in your neighborhood and create a collection point, selecting a day or two during the season to take your donated pumpkins in one trip. Its easy. Just work with your HOA to get permission to post. Talk to your neighbors and get to know them.
Get Your Farmer Involved
If you go out to the country and buy pumpkins, ask them if they will accept them back as donations at the end of the season. Often, they have pig farms they work with to take those pumpkins they didn’t sell and will accept them as part of their pick up. Or, they will know who in their farming network would accept them and you can let us know and we will add to this site!
Community Involvement & Awareness
Create fliers and post them in your local coffee shops, salons, and restaurants to get the word out that there is a better way to dispose of their pumpkins!
About Pumpkins For Pigs
How did Pumpkins for Pigs come to be?
Seems so simple. Well, it was. I was feeling increasingly guilty I didn’t have a better way to dispose of my decorative pumpkins come Thanksgiving. So, I kept them until Winter officially started – yeah, we looked weird having pumpkins with a winter holiday wreath on the door but I was biding my time hoping I’d come up with something. There had to be a better option. One year, while visiting my farmer for eggs, I asked if he had any ideas. He invited me to drop them off on my next visit as their pigs would love them. It would be a real treat for them. An idea was born. I was – and still am – positively giddy about the prospect. In reaching out to local farmers, I found they were trying to find ways but simply didn’t have the time to put the word out. We started out with just 4 donation sites and now have nearly 500 sites across the US. With the gracious help from a life-long friend who makes websites for a living, we now have PumpkinsForPigs.org.
From October through mid-December you are encouraged to donate your un-carved, non-inked/non-painted pumpkins to your local farm or sanctuary. (Some organizations will also take them for compost so inquire!) When you go out to purchase that perfect Christmas tree at Thanksgiving time, take your pumpkins with you and donate them to a one of the organizations below that are along your route. Also, when you buy your tree, ask if they have a recycling program; some goat farms would love them for their feed.
Give your pumpkins to the pigs!
Goats like them too!
