Growing your own homesteading Halloween decorations is a lot more fun. By October, the garden is already handing you pumpkins with crooked stems, gourds in shapes no craft store could improve upon, corn stalks, dried flowers, seed heads, vines and all sorts of wonderfully imperfect material that looks as though it was grown for Halloween. In many cases, it was.

And I do not think the goal is to make Halloween look homemade or cheap just because you are using what you have. I want it to look abundant. A wheelbarrow overflowing with unusual gourds, tall bundles of corn stalks beside the porch, a handmade wreath full of dried garden material and a few glowing pumpkins can look far more impressive than a pile of mass-produced decorations.

There is another side to this that homesteaders should not overlook: people buy this stuff. Those corn stalk bundles, pumpkins, unusual gourds, dried wreath materials and ready-made natural decorations can help fund the homestead. You can decorate your own place first, sell the surplus, and still have useful material left for food, seed, compost or next year's projects. A good Halloween crop can do more than one job.

That is the approach I want to take here. We are going to look at what you can grow, what you can make from it, how to get more than one use from the harvest, what might be worth selling, and what to do with everything when Halloween is over.

Start With What the Homestead Already Gives You

Before buying Halloween decorations, walk around your garden, barn, shed and storage areas with fresh eyes. October is full of texture. Dried corn stalks have height. Grapevines and flexible twigs give you wreath forms. Seed heads and dried flowers add detail. Pumpkins and gourds provide color and strange shapes without any help at all.

Look for materials in four categories:

• Fresh crops: pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, ornamental corn, apples and anything else that can be displayed before it is eaten or preserved.
• Dried garden material: corn stalks, husks, vines, seed heads, flower heads and sturdy stems.
• Reusable supplies: baskets, galvanized tubs, wooden crates, wheelbarrows, jars, candle holders, wreath forms, twine and fabric scraps.
• Natural materials: fallen branches, pinecones, acorns and leaves gathered from places where you have permission to collect them.

The trick is not to use every single thing you find. Choose a few materials and repeat them. Three big bundles of corn stalks and a mass of pumpkins usually look better than twenty unrelated little decorations scattered everywhere.

Corn Husk Scarecrows: Small Decorations From a Crop Byproduct

Corn husks are easy to overlook because they are usually treated as waste after the ears come off. For Halloween, that papery texture is exactly what makes them useful.

Choose husks that are reasonably clean and intact. If they are fresh, spread them out where air can circulate and let them dry before you turn them into decorations. Damp husks tied into a thick bundle can mildew.

For a small scarecrow, stack several husks together and tie them near one end with jute twine. Turn the tied end over to create the head, then tie beneath it to form a neck. A second small bundle can be pushed crosswise through the body for arms. Add more husks around the torso if you want a fuller figure.

Scraps of burlap, worn flannel, old ribbon or pieces of clothing can become hats, scarves and shirts. If the scarecrow will be outside, remember that fabric holds water. Something adorable on a dry porch can become a soggy mess after several days of rain, so use sheltered displays when possible.

Corn Husk Scarecrows

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Materials

• Dried corn husks
• rubber bands or twine or jute
• burlap or cloth
• straw hat, rake, broom (optional)

Tools

• Marker
• Paint

Instructions

1. Harvest Corn Husks: Start by collecting dried corn husks from your corn harvest. Make sure they are thoroughly dry, as this will prevent mold.
   
2. Shape the Body: Take a bunch of corn husks and shape them into the body of your scarecrow. You can use rubber bands or twine to secure the husks together. Create a round head and a body shape, leaving some husks hanging down to resemble arms.
   
3. Adding a Face: For the face, you can use a simple burlap sack or old cloth to create a head covering. Use a marker or paint to draw a friendly or spooky face on the sack.
   
4. Outfit and Accessories: Dress your scarecrow by using old clothes or burlap. You can get creative with the outfit – maybe add a straw hat, a plaid shirt, and some jeans. Don't forget to stuff the clothes with more corn husks to give your scarecrow a fuller appearance.
   
5. Hanging String: Attach a jute string to the top of the scarecrow's head, so you can hang it wherever you like in your garden.
   
6. Finishing Touches: Consider adding some accessories like a small rake or a broom to make your scarecrow look like it's ready to work in the garden. These details add a touch of realism.
   
7. Display: Hang your corn husk scarecrow in your garden or on your front porch. It not only adds a charming and spooky touch to your Halloween decor but also serves as a fun and eco-friendly guardian for your homestead.
   

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Fund the Homestead With Corn Husk Decorations

This is where a byproduct can become a small seasonal product. Bundled corn stalks, corn husk dolls, simple scarecrows and coordinated porch bundles are the sort of things people who do not grow corn have to buy.

You do not necessarily need to turn yourself into a craft factory. Think in terms of easy-to-produce items that use material you already have. A tied bundle of stalks, a pair of small corn husk scarecrows or a porch package containing stalks plus a few pumpkins can be far more practical to sell than an elaborate craft that takes hours to make.

Price the finished item for the material, your time and the fact that the customer is buying something ready to decorate with. "It came out of my garden" does not mean your labor is free.

Gourd Lights: Grow the Decoration Before You Make It

Gourds are one of my favorite examples of why growing unusual plants is useful. They are interesting before you do anything to them, and once you start choosing varieties specifically for shape, color and texture, Halloween gets much more interesting.

Fresh gourds and pumpkins can be carved for temporary glowing decorations. Hard-shell gourds can also be cured and turned into decorations meant to last much longer. Those are two different projects, so decide what you want before cutting into the harvest.

For a fresh gourd, cut an opening large enough to clean out the interior. Scrape away loose pulp and carve or drill the design. Simple holes, stars and geometric patterns can be just as effective as faces, especially on oddly shaped gourds.

I prefer LED tea lights around dried plant material. Dried gourds, corn stalks, wreaths and leaves are combustible. If you choose a real candle in a fresh pumpkin, use a stable heat-safe placement, keep combustible decorations well away from it and never leave it unattended.

If the glowing jack-o'-lantern side of Halloween interests you beyond what grows in the garden, the Halloween Collectors Society has a deeper look at the history of paper pulp jack-o'-lanterns and the vintage examples collectors preserve.

Gourd Lanterns

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Materials

• Dried Gourds
• LED tea candle
• Twine (optional)

Tools

• Knife
• Spoon

Instructions

1. Select Gourds: Choose a variety of gourds from your harvest, making sure they are mature and dry. These will be the perfect canvas for your lanterns.
   
2. Carving: Carefully cut the top off each gourd, similar to carving a pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and flesh, leaving a hollow interior.
   
3. Designs: Get creative with your designs! You can carve spooky faces, intricate patterns, or even homestead-themed scenes. Let your imagination run wild.
   
4. Lighting: Place a tea light or an LED candle inside each gourd. These lanterns emit a warm, eerie glow that adds a spooky atmosphere to your Halloween decor.
   
5. Display: Arrange your gourd lanterns on your porch steps, garden paths, or hang them from tree branches using twine. The soft, flickering light will create a hauntingly beautiful ambiance.

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Grow Gourds People Cannot Find Everywhere Else

Plain orange pumpkins sell because people know exactly what to do with them, but unusual varieties can give a small grower an advantage. Warty pumpkins, deeply ribbed types, white pumpkins, miniature varieties and oddly shaped gourds make displays look expensive because they are not identical to the supermarket pile.

That does not mean every unusual variety will be profitable in every market. Grow a manageable assortment, photograph the combinations that look especially good together and pay attention to what people ask for. A mixed crate or basket of unusual gourds may have more perceived value than selling every piece individually.

If you want to deliberately grow the raw materials for next Halloween, start with my Exotic Gardening guide to growing exotic pumpkin varieties. I also have ideas for growing and decorating with exotic pumpkins once you are ready to turn the harvest into a display.

Rustic Wreaths: Use the Garden Beyond the Flowers

A garden can supply far more wreath material than flowers. Think about grapevines, flexible twigs, dried hydrangea heads, ornamental grasses, seed heads, herbs, corn husks and sturdy stems. Even plants that are finished for the season can have one more useful life before they reach the compost pile.

Start with a reusable wreath form or make a base from flexible vines. Build the larger materials first, then tuck smaller seed heads and flowers into the gaps. Wire holds heavy pieces more securely; twine works well for lighter bundles.

If you use naturally shed, clean feathers from your own chickens, a few can add texture. Do not use feathers from wild birds simply because you find them. There are federal protections covering possession of feathers from many native species.

A wreath does not have to be perfectly symmetrical. Natural material usually looks better when you let some of the curves, seed heads and vines keep their shape.

For more ways to work natural material into the house after Halloween, my rustic interior decorating ideas continue the same use-what-you-have approach.

Rustic Wreaths

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Materials

• Natural materials like twigs, dried flowers, colorful leaves or feathers
• Twine or wire
• Small gourds, mini pumpkins or Halloween themed ornaments

Tools

• Hot glue (optional)
• Hot glue gun (optional)

Instructions

1. Collect Natural Materials: Head out to your homestead and gather twigs, dried flowers, colorful leaves, and any feathers you may have from your chickens. These materials will be the foundation of your wreath.
   
2. Shape the Base: Create a circular frame for your wreath using flexible twigs or branches. You can also purchase a simple wire wreath frame for added stability.
   
3. Layer and Assemble: Start layering your collected materials onto the frame. Begin with the twigs, then add dried flowers, leaves, and feathers to create a visually appealing arrangement.
   
4. Secure Everything: Use twine or wire to secure the materials to the frame. Make sure everything is tightly in place.
   
5. Personalize Your Wreath: Add some seasonal flair by incorporating small gourds, mini pumpkins, or other Halloween-themed ornaments. This will make your wreath uniquely suited for the holiday.
   
6. Hang with Pride: Find the perfect spot to showcase your rustic wreath – on the front door, above the mantel, or anywhere that needs a touch of autumn charm. Your visitors will be inspired by your natural and beautiful Halloween wreath.

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Wreaths Can Be a Higher-Value Homestead Product

Loose pumpkins and gourds are easy to sell, but a finished wreath turns inexpensive or homegrown material into a product that reflects your eye and your labor.

The important question is whether the time makes sense. Keep track of how long one wreath actually takes, including gathering, drying, sorting and cleanup. If a wreath takes two hours to assemble, pricing it as though you spent fifteen minutes on it will not fund anything.

You can also sell dried wreath bundles rather than finished wreaths. A bundle of coordinated natural materials gives crafty customers the fun part while saving you assembly time.

Corn Stalks Give a Halloween Display Height

Pumpkins sit low. Corn stalks solve that problem.

After you harvest the ears, choose reasonably straight stalks and let them dry. Tie several stalks together near the middle and again higher up so the bundle holds its shape. For a porch, secure the bundle to a post, railing or other stable support instead of relying on it to stand upright by itself.

A pair of stalk bundles can frame an entrance. Smaller bundles can sit behind pumpkins or hay bales. If you have ornamental corn, leave a few attractive ears attached or tie harvested ears into a separate accent.

Keep dried stalks out of walking paths and away from open flame. If you want light around them, use cool LED lights or battery-operated LED candles.

Do Not Give Away the Corn Stalks Automatically

This is another material people routinely pay for in autumn. If you grow enough corn, stalk bundles can become one of the simplest seasonal farm-stand products because the customer is buying height and atmosphere without having to locate a cornfield.

Make the bundle look intentional. Trim the bottom reasonably evenly, tie it securely and decide whether you are selling a plain bundle or a decorated bundle with ornamental corn, ribbon or another accent.

If you have pumpkins and gourds too, offer combinations. The customer who came for two pumpkins may happily buy the stalks that make those pumpkins look like a complete porch display.

Use Pumpkins and Winter Squash More Than Once

An intact edible pumpkin or winter squash can decorate the porch and still become food later. That is one reason I do not carve everything.

Use the best-shaped carving pumpkins for jack-o'-lanterns and leave some edible varieties whole. Arrange different colors, shapes and sizes together. A wooden crate, galvanized tub, old basket or wheelbarrow can give the display height without requiring more pumpkins.

When you do carve, separate the useful parts before the pumpkin goes outside. Roast the seeds rather than throwing them away. My cinnamon roasted pumpkin seed recipe is one way to turn carving leftovers into a snack.

Once a carved pumpkin has been outdoors and exposed to weather, insects, animals, candles or other contamination, I do not treat it as human food. If you want the decoration itself to last longer, see my guide to preserving a carved pumpkin.

Build a Halloween Garden Instead of Only Decorating the Porch

You can also plan Halloween into the garden itself. Dark foliage, strange seed pods, unusual pumpkins, dramatic grasses and flowers that still look good when dried can make October interesting before you carry a single decoration to the porch.

That is where Exotic Gardening and Experimental Homesteader naturally overlap. My guide to creating a spooky Halloween garden looks at the garden as part of the atmosphere, while Halloween horticulture and plants with magical properties takes the plant side even farther.

When you order seeds this winter, think about more than food yield. Ask which plants can feed you, provide pollinator value, dry well, produce seed, become decorations or create something you can sell. A crop that does several jobs earns its space.

Foraged Materials: Free Does Not Mean Thoughtless

Pinecones, acorns, fallen branches and colorful leaves can fill gaps in a display, but gather responsibly. Use your own property or collect where you have permission. Leave enough natural debris outdoors to continue doing its job for wildlife and soil.

Dry gathered material before bringing it indoors and inspect it for insects. Pinecones can become spiders with reusable wire or pipe-cleaner legs. Leaves can become a temporary garland. Twigs and acorns can fill out a wreath.

The same end-of-life rule applies: if you add glitter, paint, synthetic glue, wire or plastic pieces, separate what you can before composting. Natural-looking does not automatically mean compostable.

Make a Few Things That Last From Year to Year

Sustainable decorating does not mean every decoration needs to disappear into the compost pile on November 1. Reusing something for ten years can be a very sensible choice.

Glass jars, candle holders, wreath forms, baskets, crates and durable handmade pieces can come out every October and be combined with whatever the garden produces that year. My glass luminary pumpkin table decorations are an example of a reusable piece that can sit alongside fresh garden material.

For another low-cost project, try these Halloween eyeball decorations. If you want a centerpiece that starts with food rather than craft supplies, the orange peel Halloween luminaries are another option.

Think About Selling Before You Plant

If Halloween products could help fund your homestead, planning starts well before October.

Keep notes this year. What did you wish you had more of? Which pumpkin colors made people stop and look? Did customers ask about cornstalks? Did you run out of small gourds? Did anyone want a finished porch bundle instead of individual pieces?

Those questions can shape next year's seed order.

Some possibilities include:

• traditional carving pumpkins
• unusual pumpkins sold individually or in mixed groups
• mini pumpkins and gourds for table decorating
• ornamental corn
• bundled corn stalks
• dried flower and seed-head bundles
• grapevine or natural wreath bases
• finished seasonal wreaths
• corn husk decorations
• coordinated porch-decor packages

Do not assume the fanciest item is the most profitable. The best homestead product is often something you can produce efficiently from material you already have.

Photograph your own displays before you sell them. A customer may not know what to do with six gourds, three pumpkins and a bundle of stalks until they see those materials arranged together. Your display can sell the idea as well as the produce.

When Halloween Is Over, Sort Before You Toss

November 1 does not have to mean dragging the whole display to the trash.

Make four piles.

Save: wreath forms, wire, usable twine, LED lights, candle holders, jars, baskets, crates and durable decorations.

Eat or preserve: sound, intact edible pumpkins and winter squash that have been stored safely and are still in good condition.

Compost: clean, untreated plant material appropriate for your compost system.

Discard: material contaminated with wax, heavy soot, glitter, paint, synthetic glue or other substances you do not want in the compost.

Seeds deserve their own decision. Save seed only from mature, healthy fruit when you understand what you are saving. Open-pollinated varieties are the better choice when you want plants that resemble the parent. Cross-pollination and hybrid genetics can produce surprises.

Let This Halloween Help Pay for the Next One

That may be my favorite part of the whole cycle.

Grow the pumpkin. Decorate with it. Sell some of the extras. Eat what is edible. Save appropriate seed. Compost what is finished. Put the money from the surplus back toward seed, soil, tools or another homestead need.

That is a much more interesting Halloween decoration than something that comes out of a plastic tote once a year.

And if you want more ideas to make, cook and use around Halloween, browse my Halloween recipes and ideas collection.

Homestead Halloween Spooky Sale: October 29 Through 31

From October 29 through October 31, select Experimental Homesteader Halloween digital products will be 50% off during the Homestead Halloween Spooky Sale. The sale happens in the Experimental Homesteader Shop, so that is the place to check when it opens October 29.

It is also a good time to think ahead. Halloween night tells you what worked, what people admired, what sold, what you ran short of and what you never need to bother growing or making again. Write those things down while they are fresh. Next year's Halloween harvest starts with those notes.