From MyFolia

Saturday I harvested quite a few Arkansas Traveler tomatoes from the country garden. I bagged several pounds of tomatoes despite my groundskeepers love of them and obvious harvesting efforts in my absence. Actually, to quote my grandfather "Those tomatoes were really delicious and easy to peel. What were those called?" I told him what they were and that they were an "heirloom" variety. He replied that he'd never heard of them. I think he like them, even though they weren't what he was used to growing.

In other news, the Hickory Dent corn is officially DOA in the country garden. The corn missed vital nitrogen fertilization during the growth period because of vacation and as such had under developed ears. Nothing worth salvaging. Also grass had completely overtaken the pumpkin patch leaving my suburban patch as the only viable pumpkin producing field this year. As I said before tomato production is still good, the Aunt Ruby German greens continue to produce despite the fact that no one likes green tomatoes.

In preparation for the fall my dad disked under the cucumbers to make way for purple top turnips. I paid a grand total of$0.53 for 1 ounce at the local feed & seed which will go a long way. Personally I'm a big fan of the fall/winter garden. It used to server a vital purpose back in the day and besides I kinda feel like showing off by growing stuff during the cold months.

Back at the suburban garden things were starting to wind down. That was until I found four small cantaloupes forming on my Hearts of Gold. I decided to let them mature and to see if I can get any more melon out of the plant. I also thought I was done with my sweet bell peppers but was surprised to see small fruit and more blooms. I'll leave those plants as well to see what else I can harvest.

Speaking of melons, I officially pulled the last mini-honeydew from the vine. The melon was a bit smaller than the other two but was a nice shade of lemon yellow. The last one was sweet and juicy but no where near as delicious as the Hearts of Gold. I think I may skip honeydew next year.

I also picked up a nearly 15 pound watermelon from the country garden. As far as I can tell the melon is a Dixie Queen. However I planed two Dixie Queen mounds in close proximity to another "seed saver special" my grandfather had. His watermelons were very long but very delicious, and very pervasive. My idea was to cross the two and I think I may have succeeded. The Dixie Queen is a smaller, round melon. What I harvested is approximately the typical watermelon shape but has very light markings and has a very good, hollow sound when thumped. I will slice into this melon later in the week and let you know how it goes.

At any rate, that's all for now. Stay tuned for the next chapter in Country & Suburban garden as we prepare for fall and plant the winter garden.