tomato harvest and other things

My wife has been picking tomatoes and freezing spaghetti sauce. She plants small plots of corn every other week so we have a regular supply of fresh corn-on-the-cob for dinner. We picked the cabbage and made this year's batch of sauerkraut last month.

The recent rains really perked up the pumpkin patch and there are several large melons ripening as well.

We just started splitting firewood from the big pile of logs out back. We have enough for the coming year but are stocking up for the winter after that. I'm looking forward to an end to all this heat and humidity.

Paul

Pavel314 wrote: ...

mmm! :)

the melons here are still green and shiny so i think i have some time yet before we start to try them. i've had to read up on them since i've not grown these particular melons before (plus i've not grown melons much at all to begin with since my first few attempts ended up giving such poor results).

yeah, the hot weather has made things difficult for us this season too in varying ways. mid day siesta and AC are pretty much required now.

be careful out there! make sure to drink enough water and to not overdo it. i'd wait for cooler weather since you already have enough put by.

songbird

I think I might be ahead of the game on firewood this year, too, although the need for a new heater is certain. The one we've used for so many years finally died. This is another of those times I really miss having a truck around the house. Since I judge myself not able to use edge tools safely, I finally retired the sweet little Collins axe and spent a few bucks on a splitting machine which works quite well even if not as satisfyingly (well ...you know what I mean). About twenty years ago, I gave the heater a room of its own and began using a ducted fan to draw warmed air into the hovel through an A/C filter while providing induced-draft combustion air directly to the heater's intake via a separate (and, so far, vermin-proof) underground duct. It looks weird but it works. Man, Rube Goldberg's got nothing on my old ass! Fall ( well, early Autumn) typically is the start of the gardening year in these parts, provided the wearher has cooled enough (and the rain has stopped and the hurricanes/tropical storms have calmed a bit) and for the third consecutive season I find myself not even close to ready. Who knew such a simple task as pulling Spanish needles could be such a chore? I won't be putting any energy into growing corn this year?or ever!?but,man, could I ever use a batch of fresh collards; or "little marvel" peas, or carrots, or turnips, or spinach....

snipped-for-privacy@invalid.com wrote: ...

i can't even imagine that! congrats on stumping me! :)

or fresh beans or cucumbers? those we have plenty of and i'd be glad to be able to give you some but you are a boatload of miles away. the tomatoes we are currently hoarding until we know what we have put up will be enough. i even put out a few rat traps this afternoon to see if i could discourage a chewing marauder to find another place to exercise those teeth. we've lost a few tomatoes to whatever it is (likely a raccoon, but i'm not exactly sure yet).

today i picked some of the first dried beans and shelled a few just to see what they were and how they were. :)

always a nice time of year when it starts to finally cool off a bit and the days aren't quite so long and there is a chance of some cooler weather on the way. this week we may even get down into the low 70s as a high temperature.

i also sacrificed a melon today to see if it was getting ripe enough already. i was hoping it was done enough, but it wasn't. one way to learn, by experience... the worms will be happy to take care of it, i ate a little but it wasn't very much of anything in flavor. i did keep some of the seeds and planted the rest to see if any of them will sprout.

songbird

No. Too early. In the fall, I'm planting those crops mentioned in anticipation of the cooler weather in which they thrive. Many years, I can get two crops of most of that stuff. Remember: This part of the country does not have winter as you know it. In late spring (late February or early March), when the weather is warming and days getting longer, it'll be time for beans cucurbits and other "warm season" veggies. If I time it just right and the weather cooperates, I can squeeze in another bunch of peas. Most years, I can get two crops of tomatoes, too, although the fall crop is subject to "early" freezes (I think I sent you photos of December freeze-damaged tomatoes.). As a rule, we don't get freezing temperatures until late January or early February but there is the occasional surprise to combat complacency.

snipped-for-privacy@invalid.com wrote: ...

:)

i don't think we have much for winters any more we've hardly had to shovel snow, both of us need the exercise. all winter we stand by the window with the shovel in our hands just hoping for some real action. j/k... :)

i had a good pea season this year, but i didn't have enough room and should have only planted a few varieties instead of a bunch all packed into a small area.

i didn't plant any late season peas, i've just never had all that great luck with them turning out to be all that edible so i'd rather save the seeds for the next season instead.

songbird

I need to corrct my earlier post regarding the planting of beans. I consulted my garde diary and "discovered" (was reminded) that as recently as 2017 I planted both "delinel" and "slenderette" green beans as early as October 2. Unfortunately, by then, I had stopped noting the dates of emergence and of first picking. Sloth knows no bounds....