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.

Watermelons and Waging War

I couldn't stand it any longer, I went out and took it! It's a bouncing 12.5 lb Baby Bush Watermelon! So here's the funny thing: as I was poking at the vines, the little one fell off. Had a brown tendril like it's supposed to and fell off the vine. The BIG one is the first melon that developed and still had no brown tendrils and was still firmly attached, I had to cut it off. What gives? I cut the small one open and it appears to be ripe, although it doesn't have much in it since it's so small! We'll cut the larger open tomorrow and I will report back on the taste.

Finn begged me to make pickles, so I had just enough for 2 jars of refrigerator dills. He was pretty upset when I told him it would be about a week before they would taste "pickly", so I offered him a slice of fresh cucumber but he wouldn't try it.

It's warm today, about 93º (notice how that's not "hot" anymore LOL?), so I spent most of the day reorganizing the canning closet and taking stock of what I need. I definitely need to replace my old canning rack before a disaster happens! Also got my seedling trays and seed starting mix out, seeds should be here Friday.

bad dog

On a down note, Sprocket the Outback Jack killed one of the juvenile doves a few minutes ago. Mama Dove is pacing with her wings out on the deck railing and just breaking my heart. I will never get used to the Jack Russell in her, give me Border Collie neuroticism any day over this. To her credit, Marley was barking and trying to alert me to the chaos in the yard but I ignored her. At least Sprocket didn't tear it up, she carried it up to me completely intact, damn dog. She's still my lovebug, but I am again reminded of the nature of dogs!

In a few minutes I am headed out to wage war against Squash Bugs and Leaf Footed Bugs who are drilling holes in my tomatoes, someone's going to get hurt, and it won't be me.... I have scissors & soap and Neem if necessary. I plan to cut them in half, they're easy to get when they are mating and being all gross and squash-buggly - what a way to go, huh?

Then I plan to be civilized and enjoy a glass of wine and knit, maybe read a book... us gardeners are a deranged bunch, aren't we?