- Roots Charter High School farm seeks leftover pumpkins for animal feed.
- Pumpkins can be left in blue bins outside the farm anytime.
- The farm uses pumpkins for feeding animals and enriching compost for gardens.
WEST VALLEY CITY — A Salt Lake County farm is asking for leftover Halloween pumpkins.
Roots Charter High School, located at 2250 S. 1300 West, has a farm where students learn and help out down the street.
Right now, they're accepting Halloween and holiday pumpkins, at any stage of rot, so they can feed them to their animals.
"This time of year, a lot of people are cleaning the beautiful pumpkins off their front porches," said farm director Nysse Wilson. "A lot of times those are just going straight in the trash."
Pumpkins can be left in the big, blue bins located outside the farm at any time of the day.
Roots Farm doesn't accept bejeweled or painted pumpkins, but they do take rotting pumpkins or those with smoke inside.
They feed the vegetables to their animals. The five-acre farm is home to goats, sheep, cows, horses, pigs and even a llama.
Wilson said pumpkin is a treat for the animals.
"Pumpkins are a favorite food for pigs, for sheep, for goats, for chickens (and) for turkeys," she said. "Everybody loves pumpkins. And I think it has to do with the sweetness of their flesh. The same reason we like pumpkin."
Pumpkins will also go toward their compost pile. Wilson said that helps them create fruitful gardens and fields.
"The pumpkins will first feed our livestock, and then secondly, as far as animal waste, they'll go into our compost, which will then nourish our gardens and feed our community next year," Wilson said.
Students and the community are able to use the flowers and produce grown here.
"We also grow several tons of produce every year with our students. And those pumpkins or tomatoes or beans, all of that, we do a free farm stand once a week after school," Wilson said." The students harvest the produce that they've grown themselves every morning and afternoon with us in their farm classes."
Wilson said they make sure every creature on the farm gets its fair share of pumpkins.
They'll be accepting pumpkins throughout November.
