Oh pumpkins, where art thou?

As Summer draws to a close, I am carefully meting out my freezer and storage space of what Alaskan veggies I'd like most to have in the depths of snowy Winter. Mostly, it's the tender, leafy things that don't ship well, and also the veggies whose Alaskan versions are far superior to the ones shipped up. So that left me focusing on chard, kale, tomatoes, spinach, collards, and, to a lesser extent, broccoli. Lord knows I love me some Alaskan broccoli, but even the flaccid, rubbery ones that get shipped up from California in Winter actually taste just fine to me, once you cook them.

In the coldest cupboard, I hoarded magic potatoes and sweet local onions. The veggies and tomatoes I chopped into portions and froze the same day they were picked. By far the best bang for my freezer space is in tomatoes. Our local tomatoes have been sugary-sweet, dense, and flavorful, and anything shipped up in Winter will taste like plastic, so I allotted a lot of space for those. Kale and collards ship up just fine, but the Alaskan versions are sweeter, so I hoarded as much as I could. And I don't think multicolored baby chard is available in Winter anywhere, so I froze a bunch of that.

The only thing I'm sadly missing this year is pumpkins. Our unusually cool and rainy Summer means most of the pumpkins didn't ripen. I got two tiny ones, enough for our Thanksgiving pies, but I'd sure love to have more. Of course, I could buy some from Freddie's, shipped in from somewhere else, but it won't be the same. Ann's Greenhouses has a big ol' pumpkin right now... I wonder if they'll whack it up and sell off chunks! I'd love to buy a big chunk!

Edit: I went to visit Ann today, and she said she hadn't made plans for this year's giant pumpkin yet. She typically donates it to charity, like the food bank. Well then! Make me feel guilty for wanting it for myself! ;) She actually had quite a few decent-sized pumpkins that she hadn't sent to the farmer's market, though, so I bought three. That ought to be enough for all the pies and breads we can handle, and I'll use the two little ones I bought at the farmer's market for our Fall stews. Yum! Pasta e zucca! My favorite!