Many people place pumpkins and gourds outside their homes as decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving season (at least in Brooklyn). I wholeheartedly approve of seasonal autumnal decor. But placing pumpkins and gourds outside comes with responsibility: Pumpkins and gourds are perishable. I have seen and documented a disturbing trend in Brooklyn where many home-owners leave pumpkins outdoor well past their sell-by date. This can lead to general unpleasantness.
Below, I present a list of all of my pumpkin and gourd posts, beginning with non-rotting pumpkins and gourds betfore moving to the less savory category.
ToC: (1) Non-Rotting Pumpkins and Gourds; (2) Rotting and Decomposing Pumpkin Posts; (3) Inorganic Pumpkins; (4) Miscellaneous Pumpkin Posts
Non-Rotting Pumpkins and Gourds
- Halloween and the Pumpkin with a Mask (October 23, 2020)
The pumpkin’s mask loops around its arms. - The Trick-Or-Treating Halloween Daycare Ghost (October 29, 2020)
It is happy because its three pumpkin companions are not rotting. - A Christmas Present Struggle (December 24, 2020)
A row of non-rotting pumpkins with snow hats. The snow hats pointed to potential rotting danger. However, at the time of the photo, they did not appear to be rotting. - A Trick-Or-Treating Halloween Ghost Among Gourds in Brooklyn Heights (October 31, 2021)
Pumpkins pictured: 4. Pumpkins plopping: 0. - Return of the Happy Halloween Daycare Ghost (October 29, 2022)
It is still happy because its new pumpkin friends are not rotting.
Rotting and Decomposing Pumpkin Posts
- The Pumpkin Taker (November 14, 2020)
This Justin and Justina dialogue serves as the general introduction to the past-their-prime pumpkin series. - The Rotting Pumpkin: A Salvador Dali Painting (January 11, 2021)
It is not the best rotting pumpkin of the patch, but it is the best headlined rotting pumpkin of the patch. - A Rather Dry Christmas Tree in Brooklyn Heights in April (April 28, 2021)
“But this is not a pumpkin, Nick: It’s a Christmas tree!” That is true. But I am designating this Christmas Tree as an honorary pumpkin. - The Existential Crisis of the Rotting Pumpkin (October 17, 2022)
Seen in March(!?) 2022, a very decomposed pumpkin with “WHY GOD WHY?” written on it in black marker. - A Moldy Halloween Carved Pumpkin (October 27, 2022)
This is without a doubt the most horrified decomposed pumpkin I documented in these pages. One would think I found this horror story well after Halloween. Well: “I took the photographs of the moldy pumpkin … on October 26, 2022.“ - Oozing Brooklyn pumpkin in January (January 9, 2023)
To be accurate, it had already oozed and transmogrified into a pumpkin-pancake.
Inorganic Pumpkins
- Pumpkin Spice Makeup Removal Wipes (August 26, 2023)
Depictions of jack-o’-lanterns on foil packaging is safe from rotting. - Inflatable Thanksgiving Turkey With Pilgrim Hat (November 21, 2023)
Left unsaid by the headline is that the turkey is emerging from an inflatable pumpkin. - Halloween Chalk Art in Cobble Hill (October 9, 2024)
Chalk pumpkins never rot, they just wear away. - Inflatable Halloween Pumpkins, Ghosts, and Spiders (October 31, 2024)
The large inflatable jack-o’-lantern could deflate, but it could not rot. The infltabale ghost picture does include two organic pumpkins in a window. They do not appear to be rotting.
Miscellaneous Pumpkin Posts
- Apollodorus and the Gourds of Hadrian (December 8, 2020)
Go and paint gourds. - “Pumpkin Pie” – A Children’s Poem By Mary Mapes Dodge (November 22, 2021)
Poems about eating pumpkins. (I would not use the rotting pumpkins to make pumpkin pie.)