Setting the scene for a less wasteful Hallowe’en

SIR – I agree with Deidre Lay (Letters, October 16) that growing vast numbers of pumpkins for Hallowe’en is a waste of productive land.

Why not go the way of the artificial Christmas tree and settle for plastic pumpkins? Apart from avoiding the waste of food, they save the messy and hazardous task of carving out the flesh.

If the farmland could not be used for food, we could instead replace large areas of wildflower meadow and provide more habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Wendy Breese Lingfield, Surrey SIR – I lament the waste of pumpkins but disagree that “we could grow something more useful”.

Pumpkins are rich in beta carotene, and they are versatile. Add more health-giving ingredients like onions, ginger, turmeric, sweet spices, chilli and coconut milk for a delicious south Indian curry. In her classic Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen, Elizabeth David gave a recipe for a rich and dark pumpkin and tomato chutney, in which “the pumpkin slices retain something of their shape and shine translucently through the glass”. Diana R Lord Cockfosters, Hertfordshire SIR – Field pumpkins, which have thin flesh, are suitable only for Hallowe’en.

British farmland would be better used for the production of sweet pumpkins for soups, pies and roasting. There are many varieties of sweet pumpkins. They are often of different colours but all have orange flesh.

I grow two plants per year, and these give us at least four large pumpkins. Farmers should start producing sweet pumpkins to provide an alternative winter vegetable. Martin Curzon Thornton-Le-Moor, North Yorkshire