Last year, I carved a bunch of fruit and veggies that weren’t pumpkins to find out if they made good jack o’ lanterns. This year, I wanted to try out some pumpkin trends I’ve seen online and figure out how well they actually work.
Chicken Pumpkin Carving: Online chicken fanciers record videos of their flocks cutely nibbling on the pumpkin flesh until it’s mostly carved. It looks so sweet! But I’ve seen enough of those videos to notice an editing cut between the chickens industrially pecking and the non-gnarly finished product. I decided to find out what my 15-member flock would do with such a project. I cut the top off the pumpkin, scored the areas I wanted carved and set the gourd on a rock like a prized treat. The chickens cleaned out most of the pumpkin guts, grazing at innards and seeds alike. They didn’t exactly carve anything, but the resulting jack o’ lantern is pretty scary. I did have to set the lid askew so the candle could get enough air to continue burning. The chickens didn’t stay interested enough to peck a hole all the way through for good airflow. This would work better with a hungrier, less flighty flock. My hens love jumping out of the pen more than any treats I put inside. Verdict: extremely easy. Pretty dang creepy looking. Not how it looked on social media, but results could differ based on the flock.
Painting Pumpkins: The internet boasts beautiful photos of masterpieces painted on squashes, but lemme tell you: A pumpkin is not a good canvas. It’s a pain. Paint pooled and splattered over ridges and bumps, making a mess of any line I tried to maintain. I wanted to paint a black tree, then use a metal skewer to drill holes. The holes would, hopefully, read as stars once a candle was lit inside. On top, a smaller pumpkin would have an outline of a half moon. I saw this exact image online and thought it’d make a great decoration. Having copied it, I would not recommend it. Paint can be an alternative for children and adults who prefer to avoid the knife cuts it takes for carving. If it’s what you want, go for it! For myself, I’ll stick to the more traditional carving. Verdict: easy to slap paint on, difficult to create a recognizable image. Mileage likely depends on a person’s paintbrush skills and patience.
Stacking Pumpkins: I noticed this trend online and immediately wanted to try it. What’s better than one jack o’ lantern? Two or three stacked on top of each other, of course! I tried a few different ways of making this work. First, I attempted picking two squash that naturally balanced on top of each other. These gourds are not Legos, and attempting to build pumpkin towers at the Walmart earned me a few side eyes. Next, I threaded wire in between the connecting pumpkins. The wire added stability, but it didn’t look great. It also adds a layer of difficulty in lighting the candle and lining up wires and grooves repeatedly. Cutting a flat top and bottom on the connecting pumpkins is by far the best way I found to form a pumpkin pillar. I liked the idea of a skeleton for this jack o’ lantern, but there are many fun possible designs with more real estate. Verdict: Loved it, once I figured out the correct technique. I’ll be building pumpkin towers in the future, no doubt.
Avoid Plastic Tools: No matter how you decide to carve your pumpkin this year, do yourself a favor and avoid those plastic tool carving kits. That trash just makes carving a chore instead of a fun, festive activity. Look around your kitchen and shed for things that spark inspiration. A zester or chisel could etch grooves into a gourd. Metal cookie cutters could bite into pumpkin flesh while pointing the sharp edges away from carvers. Even some knitting needles could score some marks. Whatever you choose, make sure you can wash the sticky mess off afterwards.
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