Saving Money on Pumpkins

By Kim (Guest Post)

Update: I just bought our pumpkins at Aldi they are oddly shaped but are huge and less than $4 each. If you are near an Aldi store you may want to check them out.

By kim (Guest Post)

Although it is fun to have the pumpkins around for all of October I have often purchased our 7 (because we have 5 children) the Sunday before halloween. They are discounted close to the holiday. We never carve until the weekend before, because as you know they don't last long after carving. We do let the kids draw faces on early. Washable markers are fun for making lots of different faces.

When they were a bit smaller, it seemed perfectly acceptable to them that the pumpkins be sized according to the size of the child. In fact, the littlest loved that her pumpkin was recognizably the littlest also. It really helps cut costs when you aren't just buying the bigger ones. You may also capitalize on the discounted oddly shaped pumpkins by having kids draw their pumpkin head on paper and then finding the closest match the the shape each child draws.

By

coreenhart

In the aftermath of Halloween, commercial pumpkin patches are left to rot. There are literally hundreds or thousands of all kinds of pumpkins and squashes that no one wants. It never hurts to ask the owner if you can glean from the field. Gleaning is a custom here in Idaho. I will be gleaning a potato field soon. We do grow our own spuds, but it's nice to have those extras on hand. You can take as many as you want after the farmer has harvested what he wants. Some people fill up the bed of their pickup and take bags of spuds around to the needy. Interestingly, the farmer does not harvest the biggest potatoes. They are too large for the french fry equipment to process. So the one pounders get left in the field. Just get there before they freeze. Yum!