It has rained all weekend, so with a little extra time on my hands (right), I broke out the tablecloth for Harvest Monday!
UFO's, Fourth of July, Orange Wellington tomatoes, Japanese Climbing Cucumbers, Quadrato d'Asti Rosso Bell Peppers, Yellow Stuffing Peppers, Jalapenos, Fish Peppers, Raspberries & Blackberries
My jalapenos have been "not hot" all summer so I have been leaving them on the vine to turn red and see if that helps. Usually I find the hotter ones towards the end of the season anyways. I had planned on making salsa today so I only harvested enough jalapenos and Fish peppers for a batch, and I sure am glad I tasted them before dumping them all in - screamin' HOT! They were still green and just the shoulders had that purple-black to them. Way too hot for doing stuffed jalapenos for the freezer, so now what? There's about 100 out there that need to be picked!
I was just sure that my 2nd sowing of Golden Wax and Dragon's Tongue beans were waiting for me to harvest... not quite yet, there were only 6, but soon! Baby Bush Watermelons were ready...
Yes, you can probably guess... we don't like watermelon here, either! I will say for me it was way better than canteloupe, "the 80's Stucco Fruit" - to me watermelon tastes like nothing... but I will say the nothing that I grew in the garden was better than the nothings I have tasted from a grocery store LOL! I will call this a success and be able to say at least I have grown melons. Now when I move to the frozen northwoods of MN I can check this off the list of things I wish I could grow there :)
Happy neighbors though, they will be receiving lots of watermelon.
Anyone know of a melon that is sour not sweet, LOL? That's the kind I want...
And what the he{{ is up with the Quadrato Peppers this year? I know I'm not the only one...
With the rain for most of the day, it has forced us to be inside, and it was kind of nice to have a "weather delay" from the garden. We went to the library, I was able to actually finish a knitting project, and was able to make 6 1/2 pints of salsa for the freezer, and 1/2 pint for the fridge.
It looks like the pepper might have blossom end rot? Do you think that is possible on peppers. Oooh, we love watermelon. It's great as a smoothie. I cut the watermelon into pieces, stick it into the freezer, then throw the frozen watermelon into the blender with a little simple syrup of sugar and water and mint. It is so good that I think your kids might like it too!
ReplyDeleteOh, nooooooo. Nor your quadratos too! I love that pepper, and I was so sad to see mine with "the affliction". I still haven't figured out if its BER or anthracnos.
ReplyDeletehttp://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3307.html
My leaves are showing no infection at all, just the peppers.
I'll take all your leftover watermelons, thank you very much.
OOOH. Too bad for the peppers.
ReplyDeleteI have the same feeling for watermelons. I just don't like the texture, I really don't. Glad everything else worked out well, however!
Do you have any idea how crazy you are making all of us who LOVE watermelon but can't grow it?!! Yours looks WONDERFUL . . . the best looking homegrown watermelon I've seen. I'll be there by the end of the week. ;o)
ReplyDeleteSo how about showing us some pictures of what you've been knitting?
Gosh, we could use some of your rain. Even watering the garden with the sprinkler doesn't seem to help much.
meemsnyc, not sure if it's the BER or not yet, it only seems to be affecting one of the plants in the pepper bed upon closer inspection. I thought it was all over since my peppers are really crammed in there, but when I followed the main stem up it looks like one plant.
ReplyDeleteGran, I don't know what's up but I have seen at least 3 others post pics of the same variety with the same problem! Fortunately, I am getting plenty of great looking ones, so it hasn't affected the harvest much. My leaves too, are healthy as can be!
Ribbit, yeah, for as much as some rave about summertime watermelon, it's kind of lost on me, maybe if I injected it with vodka like we used to in younger days?! :)
Erin, you tell Mama Pea to keep her hands off my watermelon!
ReplyDelete;-)
Hey, Annie's Granny - Let's meet and arm wrestle over the watermelon on Erin's table! :o)
ReplyDeleteSet the date, Mama Pea ;-D
ReplyDeleteThat's looks like a lot of yum!
ReplyDeleteEspecially that watermelon!
I loooove watermelon! We tried to grow some this summer but it hasn't been going well.
Those poor peppers :(
meemsync- Just add rum for a watermelon mojito!! ;)
ReplyDeleteErin- those are some funky peppers. Very strange that others have the same thing going on.
It's been hotter and sunnier than usual here this year and we had some tomatoes show up with the same kind of spots as your peppers. We found that it was caused by sun scald! They got sunburned. Don't know if that's what got your peppers, but it looks like the same kind of spot.
ReplyDeleteLovely! I am not a big watermelon fan, either. But you know, I had this fabulous Watermelon Martini once...
ReplyDeleteMama Pea, thank you, although I admit I don't even know what is "ripe" or not, I just go by what the books say. My neighbor who eats a lot of watermelon told me the next day, "oh that watermelon was soooo sweet!" Not sure if that's a good thing or not? I just smiled LOL.
ReplyDeleteGran & Mama Pea, I have enough mess to clean up around here with 2 boys that I can't be dealing with your tipping over tables and chairs arm wrestling LOL!
Seana, Kelly, Trailshome, not sure what it is, it is super hot, triple digits here pretty much all summer so far, but the peppers themselves are shaded under the thickly planted bed, and the leaves show no signs of stress in the heat. I would think Blossom End Rot except that if a nutrient deficiency was causing that all the plants would have it, only one of the pepper plants in the bed does? It doesn't concern me as much as if it were tomatoes, since I have plenty of unaffected peppers.
Melissa, now you're talking! Back home when everyone would go float on the river (mighty Mississippi) they would inject tons of rum or vodka into their watermelons, stuff in a cooler of ice and enjoy in the afternoon!
OMG! That watermelon looks perfect....Nice spread for harvest monday!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the seed for the mini yellow stuffing peppers? Your watermelon looks awesome! Some of my watermelon plants are just starting to put on little fruits.
ReplyDeleteWwwwwhhhhaaaattt? How can you not like watermelon?! Stop talking crazy!
ReplyDeleteYou really did a great job of picking it when it was ripe though. The inside looks perfect! Too bad I'm not your neighbor. I would have gratefully taken them off of your hands.