Soule: Now is the time to smash a pumpkin for a good cause.

Nighttime air is crisp. Trees are orange and red as their leaves change color and fall to the ground. Overhead, wedges of geese honk as they pass over, heading south. The grass is eaten, and the cows now munch on hay. In the mornings, frost is on the pumpkin bringing joy to my cattle. Frozen pumpkins thaw in the autumn sun's warmth, making them soft and squishy, perfect for chewing and a delightful alternative to dry hay.

But who wants to wait for the weather to do its work? Not the cows at Miles Smith Farm. Every year after Halloween, young, old, and in-between people descend on the farm to break apart unwanted pumpkins. I call these people the Pumpkin Smashers.

When a car 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 in the air, and then whack it down on an unsuspecting pumpkin. Sometimes the pumpkin skitters away and needs a second smashing. It often splits into smaller bits, just right for munching.

The little people, children too small to safely swing a sledgehammer, often dash a small pumpkin on a rock. Sometimes that technique works, sometimes not. I've seen helpful parents lift a difficult pumpkin overhead and propel it onto the ground, laughing as it splatters on the ground.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, N.H., where she raises and sells beef and other local products. She can be reached at carolesoule60@gmail.com