Water

melon

Yeah. I know. October isn't exactly watermelon month. But I didn't get the seed in when I should have. So what can I say? We'll be eating fresh watermelon-- four of them each weighing about 30-40 pounds-- and watching the leaves change.

And by the by-- we still have frozen watermelon from last year!

Fresh frozen watermelon

on a chilly winter afternoon ridiculously hot day in mid-March.

"Insert image from this blog" since I am still without my own computer and Mr. Big Food's is not up to the task of uploading photos from my camera.

One of winter's treat-- at least here at on the Farm-- is having summer's bounty tucked away in the freezer... chase away the blues, something to look forward to, et cetera.

Dang! It sure is good.

May I recommend New Hope Seed Company?

"We specialize in open-pollinated and heirloom vegetable seed varieties that are rare and not readily commercially available."

Now that the Christmas Season is over, it's time to move into Almost Summer (which is followed by Summer, and Still Summer). You know what that means? Seeds! New Hope Seed Company is the first stop I'll make after I do an inventory of what I have that's still viable. 

What I like about New Hope Seed Company (in no particular order & no, I don't work for New Hope):

-- Canteloupe/Muskmelon. Without a doubt the melon varieties available at New Hope are the best I've ever had. Mind you, there are only six varieties but once you found perfection why go elsewhere? Mr. Big Food is a very big fan of melon and both he and I agree that there's no contest; Old Tennessee Muskmelon is in a class by itself. 

Old Tennessee Muskmelon sherbet

-- Customer Service. This follows from the melons. There had been a failure of our favorite melon, and seeds were not available for 2011. When I placed my order, I noted in the comments section that I was disappointed. When my order arrived, it contained a packet of those seeds with a hand written note. 

[more what I like plus what you might not like below the fold]

Eggs for Watermelon

I just got off the telephone with Daughter C who had called to ask if we had any extra watermelon because she was "bartering"-- her word: Eggs for watermelon.

Are you kidding me? Of course! I just happen to have a couple watermelons on the picnic table. See?

Two watermelons. Tomorrow there will be one watermelon and one dozen fresh eggs.

Fresh eggs rule. And it gets better... . Eggs come from chickens. If you have chickens, you have chicken poop. It is October. There's plenty of time for me to compost chicken poop before next spring. Whoo hoo!

BIG LIFE!

Today's harvest (UPDATED: We did it!)

No photos. Sorry. Maybe I'll update after we have supper. It's some chicken casserole dish that's already baking.

We had a very busy week. I wasn't able to spend nearly as much time in the garden as I usually do, especially since I knew we wouldn't be around much late in the week and so I spent one day cleaning the house. And Mr. Big Food wasn't able to do his chores, either. So we were outside today. Nice day. Also, Daughter C is here today to take care of Rocky. (I spend too much time with Rocky.)

Today I picked 

• two three watermelons (one is rotten so we're going to shoot it)
• a few beets and 
• baby lima beans 

(I don't know what he's going to do with the beats, but the limas are going in a crock pot Tuesday morning. Limas are not called for, but we have too few to freeze so we might as well eat them.)

• a little French melon (not sure it's going to make the cut; we'll look at it tonight
• jalapeno peppers

That's right. We are pickling tonight. Pickling jalapeno peppers.

• and a nice batch of cherry tomatoes.

And I almost forgot the white winter radishes. I pulled a handful of white carrots on Thursday.  We actually have a lot of radishes on hand right now. I should announce this.

That was satisfying. And now, while supper is in the oven, we will clean the kitchen. This will be satisfying in it's own sort of drudgery way.

I cannot put it off any longer. 

UPDATE

Preparing to freeze some French melon

We did it! We got just about everything done. The only thing that remains for this evening is stewing the tomatoes. But the melons (there were two, not one, aas I reported earlier) and tomatillos-- which I think I forgot to mention yesterday-- are in the freezer. The jalapeno are pickled, as are the two quarts of green cherry tomatoes that I picked just as it was getting dark. 

The melon are 

Melon Charentais Heirloom Seed

Cucumis melo (Reticulatus group)

90 days. Charentais melons aren’t found in your grocery store — they’re too fragile to ship. A true cantaloupe, the fruits have smooth skin with light green stripes, maturing to creamy yellow. The delightfully scented, creamy orange flesh is filled with unsurpassed flavor. One of the sweetest rewards of home gardening!

 from Botanical Interests and they going to taste sooo good in January!


Good day. Big life.