Been a good summer so far.

[Higgs Boson]

Tomatoes out the wazoo. Every morning I go out and pick cherry tomatoes, and now the big ones are ripening as well. On-going battle with squirrels. (Offering a dozen, free shipping.) Enveloped some big T's in netting that so far is working OK. In another area, enclosed the cluster of big T's in plastic bags (with a few holes pierced). Undid plastic bags and harvested a few; seem to have come through OK.

(No time limit on squirrel offer.)

Corn is superb this year! I never make it to the kitchen. Just shuck the ear and devour on the spot. SO sweet! Got enough sense, finally, to plant succession, so should be harvesting for months, ojala.

Cucumbers... can't keep ahead of them...giving away to neighbors left & right. Looked for cucumber recipes in a couple of cookbooks, but didn't find anything suitable. This year, planted the so-called "pickling" cukes, and like them much better. Got a great, crisp bite to them. Also lemon cukes, but they're slower to come along.

Went through several pickings of yellow wax beans before I ripped out the vines and put in my first lima beans. Never grew them before; looking forward. I interspersed them among corn stalks, having always heard that indigenous people knew about complementary amino acids long before us white folks.

Carrots starting. Wasted time with some bad seed before buying fresh. Grrrr!

Green onions starting as well. I'm nervously eyeing the last survivors of previous crop. Can't eat them fast enough; hope they won't go to seed before I finish them. Giving away to neighbors.

But the Big News this year is MELONS!!! Cantaloupe! My first time! They are sprawling all over the lawn, practically charging out of their planting bed. Rather than construct vertical supports when I realized where this was going, I am just letting them sprawl. Have spread some sheets of cardboard partly to keep the grass down (didn't work) and partly to keep the melons from (maybe) rotting from grass/ dirt contact. Is this unnecessary? Like I said, my first time.

Heavenly breakfasts of tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, hard-boiled egg, cold cooked red potatoes, celery, Israeli feta cheese, with light dressing of walnut oil, lemons from the tree, a soupc,on of Maille mustard a l'ancienne, salt & pepper. Accompanied by slices of Trader Joe whole grain bread.

Yup, been a good summer so far

Persephone

[Billy]

Your orthograph of soupçon is incorrect.

[vigor]

Nice to hear about your success this year, but free squirrels? HAHA

I find that melons are fine when on grass/soil as their harder outer shell protects them unlike say tomatoes.

[Cheryl Isaak]

Sounds like you're having a great one. Tomatoes have been doing great, something ate the cuke leaves and I'm wondering if I'll see any pumpkins from the volunteer plants.

But the tomatoes make up for the rest of it...

Cheryl

[Higgs Boson]

It was a typo. How do I get my system to put the comma under the "c"?

TIA

[Higgs Boson]

Speaking of melons.... I had wrapped most of them in mesh, anti- squirrel-wise, but @#$$%^&*%@ if I didn't find that the &^%%$#s had been at one of the "naked" melons. Chawed out a chunk. At risk of death, I took it inside, cut off the bad parts, and ate the rest - HEAVEN!!! (even though the gardener had warned me not to eat anything the squirrels have been at).

I'm still more or less alive, even after eating tomatoes that had been "molested".

Incidentally he was wrong about waiting until melons turn yellow. The one I ate had not turned yellow, but was perfectly ripe.

I have now wrapped the remaining melons in plastic grocery bags tied at the top.

Sigh! My son took his .22 when he moved out...Sure could use it now

Few years ago, another bumper tomato crop, I bought a little Italian food mill on-line. It separates out the "meat", leaving seeds and skin behind. Will probably break it out next week, as the T's are piling up, even with what I give the neighbors. Been ages since I canned, so may just freeze the pulp.

[Cheryl Isaak]

I've made salsa - the uncooked type - frozen it and it's really good when you thaw it out. I drained the liquid off and used it to marinate chicken and beef. Talk about tasty and tender. And it feels like summer in the middle of winter.

Cheryl

[Higgs Boson]

Yum. Sounds great.

Re: Melons, I had tied up the precious few in plastic bags to keep the )**&&^% squirrels from chawing down on them. Made tiny airholes in all (I thought?).

But gardener opined this morning that melons would "boil" in the plastic bags, so I hastily harvested four of them, but I'm afraid one was too early; still green at the end.

Will it ripen any further if I don't open it?

Was he right about the "boil in bag"?

TIA

Persephone

Persephone.