I cannot stand to throw food into the trash can. My current problem is with five pounds of carrots that are expired and a little squishy. What can I do with them? I thought about leaving them outside for some animals to eat, but would they? Any tips on what to do with food that you might otherwise throw away? I haven't started composting yet, but until then I need another eco-friendly alternative. Any ideas?

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Soon to be married and learning to stretch a dollar!

You CAN start composting. Simply chop them up (a food processor helps) and toss them outside on your planting beds. Nothing complicated is needed.

I have a place in my garden where we used to have chickens. There is still lots of chicken poop and aged straw in that area. I simply toss my leftover compost-able produce onto that area. In the spring, I'll add a little topsoil and rototill. Last year, we threw all our old coffee grounds - paper filter and all - in the garden and rototilled. I thought we'd unearth a ton of paper filters but they completely disappeared. The plants loved it. We have a rather vigorous garden.

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Can you use them to make stew or soup?

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~Happiness is a large family~

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I think they are past the point of soup. I think I will try the suggestion above and put them in the garden. Thanks!

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Soon to be married and learning to stretch a dollar!

I don't know where you live... but Animals will eat most anything! Yes, composting can be done any time of the year.... As far as gardening goes, if you have a lot of animals (I know we get a lot of deer up this way) you can fishing line around your garden to keep them from eating everything.. just a tip for down the road!

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The fishing line is a great idea. Now if I could just keep the possums out of my backyard. I plan on redoing our backyard and planting everything I can get my hands on, but I don't know how to keep those little bugger from eating. They get into our recycling bins every night. Any tips on that one? I once read that to keep caterpillars from eating your plants, plant some things specifically that they enjoy and they will leave your other plants alone. It sounds like they were giving the caterpillars too much credit, but who knows..

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Soon to be married and learning to stretch a dollar!

Yours might be past this point but my daughter and I went through a 40 pound bag of carrots in a month by juicing them!