Halloween has arrived, and fans of the annual event can’t wait to start celebrating tonight. Many families will spend this evening trick-or-treating or enjoying the festivities at home. From apple bobbing and watching horror films to eating doughnuts off a string, there’s lots of fun to be had. If you’re carving a pumpkin as part of your celebrations, a gardener has highlighted why you might want to save the seeds.
Posting on TikTok as @joesgarden, Joseph Clark, a gardening content creator and author of Garden To Save The World, shared a recommendation for his 1.6 million followers. Joe told viewers: “Today we are back and I am showing you a fun way to save the seeds from your Halloween pumpkins, and use them to grow your very own pumpkin patch at home.”
He explained: “Pumpkins can be grown in the ground in your garden or in a large pot. Wherever you are growing them, just make sure they are well-fed with good compost and liquid seaweed every two weeks.”
The gardener advised: “When it comes to saving seeds, you can end up with a slightly different variety from the plant you saved the seed from, but for me, that is part of the fun! Last year, we saved seed from giant pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and grew our own giants! However, yours might be slightly different.
“Growing pumpkins is actually really simple, just make sure to water them regularly as they can be quite thirsty plants. I sow my seeds in mid-April, and then they are ready to harvest from September onwards. The more sunlight and better soil they have, the better your harvest will be.
“If you are trying to grow a large variety, keep no more than two pumpkins per vine, but I am only growing them for carving, so I let four or five grow per vine.”
In his video, Joe then demonstrated the process. He said: “Instead of just throwing away all these insides, scoop it all out into a bowl, and separate away the seeds from the flesh.
“Pat away as much moisture as you can, and take the seeds somewhere nice and warm, where, after a few days, they’ll finish drying, and you can store them in a paper envelope.
“Then once the weather starts to warm up again, you can sow a few of these seeds in an old cookie box with holes in the bottom for drainage, close the lid to create a mini greenhouse effect, and soon your seeds will germinate.
“Pot them individually, and once they’re around this size, either plant them into the ground or a large container with some quality compost, and just like that, you can grow your own pumpkin patch for next Halloween.”
The video delighted viewers, racking up over 50,000 likes. One commenter said: “If you put the guts and seeds into a bowl of water they’ll separate themselves, seeds will float and the pumpkin guts won’t.” Another replied: “My daughter’s favourite part is cooking and eating the seeds.”
