The Common Roots Urban Farm held its first-annual pumpkin smash Sunday, Nov. 4.
Common Roots organizers, along with approximately 300 – 400 people from the community gathered together over the course of the afternoon and employed as many techniques as possible to turn this-year’s leftover Hallowe’en jack-o-lanterns into useable compost for the farm.
Pumpkins were tossed from atop hay bales, smashed with sledge hammers and eventually fed into a wood chipper to produce the best-possible compost.
Live music was played and apples were pressed into approximately 30 to 40 litres of cider, all of which was consumed by the end of the day.
Pumpkins were donated, sometimes by the wheel-barrow full, from local residents and everyone was treated to a free meal prepared with food from grown on the farm.
Co-ordinator Jayme Melrose was interviewed by media in attendance and said a key challenge to urban agriculture is addressing fertility issues in soil. This added compost will prove to be a big help.
Click through to see photos from the event.
All photos by Peter Graham.