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Post by kazedwards on Aug 11, 2014 0:11:30 GMT -5
Yes it is! I saw this video the other day where a guy took a wire coat hanger and bent it to a u shape. Then he put the ends in a drill, cut a small hole in a watermelon. Then he blended the insides of the watermelon with it. It made a watermelon drink/slushy. Seemed like a great idea.
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Post by steev on Aug 11, 2014 0:29:47 GMT -5
I'm sorry; I'm just too old school; I'll eat my melon with a spoon; I think that's as much technological innovation as is warranted. I suspect the time it takes to do so, in the shade, is no small part of the benefit.
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 11, 2014 0:33:12 GMT -5
I'm with you! I'd rather slice it and eat it off the rind.
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Post by flowerweaver on Aug 11, 2014 20:52:52 GMT -5
One time I dehydrated a large watermelon down to about a tablespoon of watermelon sugar. It took forever, but was really yummy!
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 13, 2014 1:58:58 GMT -5
Yesterday I picked quite a few things. For starters I picked 6 slicing toms. They were starting to crack with all the rain in the last two days, but still made great BLTs. The biggest was 13oz. Also got 8 bells and 11 hot/chilli peppers. Picked 11 cucumbers, one of which is over ripe and will be used for seed. The biggest of those was 2lb. 2oz. That is a big cucumber. 11 of the Charentais cantaloupe had split so picked them as well. I'm not sure if melons will split because of rain, like tomatoes, but they looked ripe. So I decided to cut them up and try them. They did not taste ripe. So I'm not real sure what the problem was. I have heard that they need a few days to finish ripening after picked so that might be it. It could also be that the sugar content was low due to the rain. I still have two out there that didn't split and two inside so we will see.  Today I picked my first watermelon. Last year I only got a few small fruits that weren't very sweet, and I didn't consider them to be ripe. So I do consider this one to be the first one I have grown. It was 13.3 pounds and the variety was Chelsea. It was good tasting, not the sweetest I have ever had, but good none the less. It has big seeds which are a annoying, but worth it if I can grow my own. We will see if the next one is sweeter so long as we don't get several inches of rain days before picking.  |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 13, 2014 11:11:18 GMT -5
kazedwards: Thanks for photos. Great looking harvest. Looks like those melons go too much water. I typically pick cantaloupes when they turn orange. The real ripeness test for my varieties is "slipping". I give a slight tug on the melon. If it detaches from the vine then I pick it. Otherwise I leave it in the field for another couple days. I stop irrigating about the time that I harvest the first fruits. That way the fruits tend to be firmer and taste better to me. I haven't paid enough attention to know if cantaloupes sweeten after being picked. Oh, regarding some of the bulbils on the garlic flower turning brown. I saw that in my patch the other day too. Turns out that there are so many bulbils competing for space that some of them detach from the stem and dry out. Seems normal to me.
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 13, 2014 11:54:53 GMT -5
Yes those were the first I plucked out. They gave me starting point for removing them
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 25, 2014 10:45:54 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't been on much lately, but it has been in the 90-100 with little breaks. I did pull the rest of the carrots. There were some crazy shapes with them.     This is the garlic heads that I hope contain seed as of about a week ago.  I cut them today and hope I waited long enough or didn't wait to long. Here is two pics from today after I cut them.   The cucumbers have powdery mildew at this point. Here they are a week ago.  And here they are today...Mostly dead.   They are done for the year, but we have picked over 50lb. this year so I'm pretty tired of them for the moment. We did take a whack at pickles last week. We used the Mrs. Wagers mix for it and they weren't very good. They tasted like pickles but they weren't very dilly and had little taste.  Here is the garden today. Not very pretty. Needs to be weeded and then weeded again. The crab grass is very thick and has a very strong root system. It really needs to be tilled up but I am not able to get the tiller in the beds. So it all is done by hand and a pain in the ass.  Hope all is well for all of you. |
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Post by flowerweaver on Aug 25, 2014 18:31:01 GMT -5
I've never gotten 50lbs of cukes, you should be very proud of yourself, weeds and all! I've found it's always best to ask around for pickle recipes. All is not lost. You might be able to remedy the bland ones as you open them in the fridge, adding more dill or whatever to your tastes and letting them sit for a week or so like 'refrigerator pickle' recipes.
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 26, 2014 0:21:12 GMT -5
Thank you Sage! We are planning on trying again with the pickles soon. This time around was the first time canning so we kept it simple with a packet if seasoning. The cucumber that we grew this year gad a sweeter taste if left to get around 2lbs and picked just before over ripe so that's what we did. 30-40 cucumbers from 6 plants is pretty good and we have enjoyed them for sure!
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Post by steev on Aug 26, 2014 0:45:06 GMT -5
The weather and drought were such that I got no cukes this year. I enjoy dilly beans and dilly green cherry tomatoes, when I can. If I ever manage to grow beefsteak tomatoes, I want to learn how to make a good Eastern European pickled tomato, so good with corned beef-on-rye.
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DebTheFarmer
grub
Market Gardener, Heirloom Veg Lover, Novice Permaculturist, Future Vegetable Breeder.
Posts: 70 
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Post by DebTheFarmer on Aug 26, 2014 1:18:28 GMT -5
My mom's "famous" pickle brine. She has a different recipe for sweet pickles. I use it for pickling everything. Sometimes I change part of the vinegar to apple cider or balsamic (make sure it's at least 5% acetic acid). I add any spices I want to the jars (peppercorns, fennel seed, etc) instead of boiling in the brine. 3 quarts water 1 quart vinegar 1 cup salt Boil it all together. Pour into prepared jars. Process. Always add more dill and garlic than you think you need  |
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Post by philagardener on Aug 26, 2014 5:16:53 GMT -5
My mom's "famous" pickle brine. She has a different recipe for sweet pickles. I use it for pickling everything. Sometimes I change part of the vinegar to apple cider or balsamic (make sure it's at least 5% acetic acid). I add any spices I want to the jars (peppercorns, fennel seed, etc) instead of boiling in the brine. 3 quarts water 1 quart vinegar 1 cup salt Boil it all together. Pour into prepared jars. Process. Always add more dill and garlic than you think you need Great for it's simplicity - I'll have to try it. Thanks to mom! Pickling / Kosher salt, I assume (A clarification so no one new to pickling uses table salt by mistake.) |
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Post by kazedwards on Aug 26, 2014 7:34:54 GMT -5
Thank you all. We will have to try it.
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DebTheFarmer
grub
Market Gardener, Heirloom Veg Lover, Novice Permaculturist, Future Vegetable Breeder.
Posts: 70
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Post by DebTheFarmer on Aug 27, 2014 0:16:25 GMT -5
Pickling / Kosher salt, I assume (A clarification so no one new to pickling uses table salt by mistake.) (Oops, missed that bit) Yes, pickling salt  We use coarse. Important bit is to make sure there is absolutely no additives. |
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We use coarse. Important bit is to make sure there is absolutely no additives.