Autumn on Miles Smith Farm in Loudon is all about the joy that discarded pumpkins bring to my cattle. Every year after Halloween, enthusiastic benefactors descend on my farm with carved or uncarved pumpkins to serve to my Scottish Highlander cattle.
The cows and steers don’t care if a carved pumpkin has a happy face or a ghostly grin. They’re not art critics. They only care if the pumpkin is easy to eat. Whole pumpkins are as edible as bowling balls — hard to bite into because cattle have no top front teeth. Hence the need for pumpkin smashers — part demolition crew, part stress-relief therapy group.
When a donor drives up, the cattle will run to the fence, watch the visitor set a pumpkin on the smashing stump, pick up a sledgehammer, lift it high and then whack it down on the unsuspecting pumpkin. Sometimes the pumpkin skitters away and needs a second smashing.
Sooner or later, it splits into smaller bits, just right for munching.
For the littlest smashers (those who shouldn’t handle heavy weapons just yet), there’s the throw-it-at-a-rock technique. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t — but it always gets a laugh. I’ve even seen parents step in for a dramatic overhead slam.
Carved pumpkins, on the other hand, come with convenient “mouth holes” in the top for easy snacking, but carved jack-o-lanterns have one flaw — no seeds! Those gooey pumpkin guts are the cattle’s favorite. Fun fact: Pumpkin seeds are a natural dewormer for cattle, goats and sheep. So you’re helping with herd health by bringing uncarved pumpkins to the farm.
Do you secretly (or not so secretly) want to smash things? How about turning destructive tendencies into bovine delight? Remember: There’s no wrong way to smash. The cattle don’t care about form, flair or finesse. They want bite-sized bits.
So, bring your pumpkins and squashes to Miles Smith Farm any time of day. We’re at 55
Whitehouse Road.
And you can boast, “I polished my halo today — with a sledgehammer.”
Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm. She can be reached at carole@soulecoaching.com. Carole is also a certified Life Coach who helps humans and K9s achieve the impossible a little at a time.