Harvest Monday and yukky watermelon!

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 must be genetic...

Here's my kids' plates after they ate dinner and left the table...

(they know nothing about my distaste of canteloupe)!

I had such high hopes...

I googled "why do i hate canteloupe"? this evening and this is what came up...

read this blog I found... funny stuff! I warn those who might be offended by some profanity in the author's post, but this is hilarious!

one of my favorite quotes:

"It’s like cantaloupe is the nerd of the fruits. It doesn’t look particularly good. It’s sort of got this 80s stucco look to it, and it comes in a few pastel colors. In fact, I think cantaloupes are stuck in the 80s. They need the What Not to Wear crew to get in on this sh*t and fix them up."

LOL...

The Canteloupe has arrived!

Sure enough, this morning I smelled the blossom end just like some of you had suggested, and I could smell "melon"! I couldn't get it off the vine fast enough!

It weighed 4 lbs, 11 oz

(notes: It was direct sowed in a container on April 6th which makes exactly 104 days from sowing to harvest in an intensely humid and hot summer)

Not being a melon fan, I was hoping that the only reason I didn't like them was because I have only ever had store-bought. Not the case, unfortunately. This was cut still warm from the morning sun, juice running out and lovely scent... I still didn't like it! This may be because it is so sweet, I usually go for sour puckering type fruit, I actually like eating lemons and such! I put on my "yum face" and presented to eager children who have never tasted canteloupe:

They seemed to enjoy it, but they may have been being nice, since neither one finished their slice. Finn usually hoards fruit and won't let anyone else have "his" bowl of berries, so I cubed the rest and put it into separate "Loch" and "Finn" containers in the fridge. I'll keep checking to see who is actually eating it! I really wish hubby was here, I know he would eat it! Luckily, these will only come ripe sporadically so I won't be inundated with them, and they definitely won't go to waste considering that I can put them in a smoothie with other fruit and they will be consumed quickly that way!

I had to take all the grapes in today. I was mowing the lawn this morning and wondered "hey, where's my grapes?"... BIRDS! It's always a narrow window to be able to harvest them before mockingbirds and wasps eat them, and apparently I missed the window while I was busy being a mom all weekend, because half of them were already gone. I picked what was left and brought them in, good thing I like sour tastes, since they are not all quite ready yet! This is a big improvement, however... the past 2 years I didn't get any harvested before the birds got them.

Monday's Harvest: Tomatoes, Blackberries, Canteloupe, Cucumbers, and a total of 2.2 lbs of Grapes

I'm still holding out high hopes for the watermelon, I am told they aren't as sweet as the canteloupe so I am eager to try it... it's still not ready!