The Zeiger Family Homestead Blog

Yesterday, Aly and I declared Pumpkinpalooza.

Last November, just after Halloween, Michelle and I purchased a few Jack O’Lantern pumpkins for eating (see Don’t Trash Your Treats! Pumpkins Make Good Eats). We’ve found that, like other winter squashes, pumpkins keep very well in a dark corner of the cabin. They keep so well that they often outlive the seasons with which we associate most of the foods we make from them. This happened to one medium-sized pumpkin. It lasted up until yesterday, when, inspired by the autumnal day, we set to work on it.

Stored 11 months, this pumpkin is still fresh and ready for Pumpkinpalooza (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger)

We planned to bake a variety of goodies from it yesterday: pumpkin bread, (see Homemade Pumpkin Bread for Halloween) pie, perhaps a spice cake. We also thought of pumpkin soup, but we’d already harvested enough fresh mushrooms to make mushroom soup for dinner. Instead, we only got as far as the pumpkin bread. We’ve eaten a little of the pumpkin, heated with butter and salt, but we still have a whole lot left to make more treats. We also have yet to decide how to season the seeds for roasting.

Our weather has turned cooler, windy, and the much-needed rain should start this afternoon. It’s a perfect day to fill the house with the aroma of pumpkin spices!

Carrying on the “Homestead” Tradition

Every once in awhile, I feel as if we might be worthy of the “homestead” that the previous owners created here. Specifically, I may have confirmed my own packrat cred.

When I began to repair the garden swing after its recent accident (see All Fall Down) I went to the shed and found a nut can full of carriage bolts. I would use these to bolt together two 2X4s to create a new, stronger crossbeam on which to hang the swing. I gave Michelle a shopping list, which included the lumber, and nuts and washers for the bolts, but asked her to wait for my call before buying anything.

Double rainbow over Lynn Canal: what better way to test swing repairs? (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

When I began work, I went back to the shed, and soon found all the nuts and washers belonging to the bolts in another container. My predecessor’s pack rat proclivities had saved me once again (see In Praise of Pack Rats).

I then began casting about for lumber. I had a few possibilities in mind, some of which would require setting up the table saw, powered by the gas generator, to rip into shape. Instead, I discovered a forgotten resource: about a dozen 12-foot cedar 2X4s.

I bought these at a bargain, either from a house building project in town, or the local hot tub manufacturer. They’ve been waiting for another project, but surely I could spare two lengths for the crossbeam.

I soon had them drilled and bolted. Aly and I hung the new crossbeam, and worked to position the swing when Dave and Anke arrived from their boat. We all worked to position, balance, and secure the swing. That evening, when Michelle came home, she tested it by sitting on it while viewing a massive double rainbow on Lynn Canal. She approved it, and it’s now ready for our next visitors: my youngest aunt and uncle, whose cruise ship docks in Skagway later this morning. They’ll take the fast ferry to Haines, and will be able to have lunch and a few hours on the “homestead” today.

The project would have been completed in time, but drawing on our own resources allowed us to repair the swing without waiting for outside materials. That felt like carrying on an important “homestead” tradition.

Pumpkinpalooza!

Carrying on the “Homestead” Tradition

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