When Bill Vogl started a homegrown fruits and veggies garden, he never imagined his tiny plot would one day lead to a recycling program where pumpkins are the star attraction. 

Vogl Homestead Farm, a regenerative agriculture farm located in Black Forest, raises sheep for grass-fed lamb and cultivates crops, focusing on permaculture to enhance soil and ecosystem health. And this is where pumpkin takes center stage. 

Each year, VHF organizes a post-Halloween program designed to recycle pumpkins that provide food to the farm’s sheep while maintaining a healthy environment. The program, the Great Pumpkin Rescue, gives pumpkins a second life by feeding the sheep or being composted to improve pastures thereby keeping organic waste out of landfills. 

This year’s 6th annual event, held Oct. 31-Nov. 10, collected pumpkins of all color, shape and size. The program, its title lifted from the 1966 American animated Halloween TV classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” accepts hundreds of discarded pieces of the classic autumn fruit, each earmarked for a specific purpose. 

“All pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns are accepted regardless of condition. One of our core values is that we are a resource for the local community to help recycle things that would otherwise go to the landfill,” Vogl said. 

Each year, VHF recycles 600-800 pumpkins. Vogl believes everyone has a responsibility to maintain a healthy environment and contribute to a more sustainable future, and recycling pumpkins is a good way to do that. 

“The quality pumpkins go to our sheep as a supplemental feed. The ones that are too poor in quality end up going into our composting operation. We then make compost and spread on our pastures to help restore them from their previously degraded state,” Vogl said.  

Because of his job and work on the farm, Vogl, a 16-year firefighter with the Monument Fire Dept., shares a strong connection with both communities. Because of that connection, he continues to improve on the program which has expanded to other locations. 

“Everything started with a small garden and grew into a full compost operation,” Vogl said. “We started setting up numerous drop sites in Monument around this time of the year to help collect and rescue pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns after Halloween.” 

This year, VHF provided four drop-off locations in cooperation with the Town of Monument and Triview Metropolitan District. In addition to VHF, Limbach Park, Sanctuary Park and Swing Park also served as collection points. He hopes to have collected 1,000 pumpkins this year. 

VHF encouraged participants to remove all candles, plastic decorations and glow sticks before drop-off. Also, participants were asked to place mushy pumpkins in paper bags for easier handling, and to not drop off chemical-soaked pumpkins. 

“We take pumpkins of any state, including Jack-o’-lanterns, whole (and) decorated pumpkins or pumpkins starting to decay. Pumpkins still in good shape are fed to our flock of sheep, and any not are turned into compost we use to improve our pastures,” Vogl said. 

According to Vogl, people love preventing items from being tossed into a landfill when it can be used in other meaningful ways. The fact that pumpkins can be used as a feed for sheep and other farm animals is exciting because it’s a better option. And the feedback, he said, is overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s been a great way for us to be part of the community,” Vogl said. 

Offering the community another avenue for organic waste recycling nearly non-existent in the area is the immediate benefit, Vogl said. Another benefit, although long term, is VHF using these materials through compost to improve the land it manages. 

“These have fantastic benefits of improving the soil, which allows it to capture natural precipitation and keep it from evaporating as fast. It significantly reduces the risks of flooding and erosion as well. And these areas become healthier and more diverse as an ecosystem, so we see increases in wildlife activity,” Vogl said. 

VHF hopes to expand its passion of improving the land through prescribed grazing for pasture and soil health. Vogl hopes he can expand that to larger areas, including land owned/managed by municipal, county and state agencies. 

“We have learned we can do this as an alternative to prescribed burning in thinned forest areas, which is much safer because there is no fire risk and it keeps the air quality good,” Vogl said. 

“Having sheep graze these areas in a controlled manner mimics most of the same vegetation control that prescribed burning does. However, it keeps that nutrition there through manure instead of it drifting away in the smoke.” 

Looking ahead, Vogl said he hope others will share in recycling.

“Compost goes onto our pastures, which boosts the soil organic matter to make them significantly more drought-resistant and helps them grow significantly better,” Vogl said.