Well, I’m certainly glad I was able to cover those melons yesterday. According to the weather app on my phone, we dropped to 4C/39F last night. No frost, but still cold enough to potentially cause problems for heat lovers like melons.
When I headed out to check the garden beds this morning, I made sure to fill the slow watering jugs by the melons. Hopefully, that will help give them the heat and moisture they need for those few little melons to develop.
What can I say. I’m an optomist.
Nothing seemed to be damaged by the cold night, thankfully. The Spring Blush peas are completely dried out, so I collected the pods. They’re not in a bowl in the cat free zone, waiting to be put into a jar or something. Then I completely forgot about them. 😄
When I headed out again this evening, I took care of a few things. The first was to bring in the onions, which have had enough time to cure.
They all got their stems trimmed off and the dirt on them gently removed. I also trimmed the Giganthemum poppy pods off their stalks and brought those in. In the next image, you can see what seeds we got (some of the pods were empty), in an amber glass jar. The plan it to sow those in the fall, just before the ground freezes. Between these and the bread seed poppy seeds we have, I am hoping to finally grow enough poppies to have seeds for baking with as well as for sowing the next year. I have a couple of spots in mind to sow the different varieties, so they don’t cross pollinate.
I also finally harvested our single Arikara squash.
The first photo is to give a perspective of how big it is, in the wheelbarrow. As it got bigger, I set it on a brick, then later added a board, so keep it off the damp ground. The rough surface you can see is what was face down on the board. It was a bit damp so, when I set it on the curing frame (over the cross piece, to support the weight), I made sure the damp part was facing up.
This, I expect, will be the only winter squash we will get this year, and I’m glad we finally got an Arikara squash, since I specifically want to save the seeds from this rare variety. There’s no chance of cross pollination since there were no other winter squash around to cross pollinate with.
We do have the winter squash on the chain link fence, and we do have a few Butterneck squash developing. Some are large enough now that I could be harvesting them as a summer squash. I don’t expect that they will have a chance to reach full maturity, but even young winter squash can be eaten.
According to the weather app on my desktop, we dropped to 6C/43F last night, not 4C/39F. Tonight might be just as chilly as last night, but shouldn’t be any colder. By Tuesday night, though, both apps are saying we will be dropping to 3C/37F overnight. At that point, I might want to add jugs of hot water under the plastic with the melons, and drape frost cloths over the peppers and eggplant. After that, we’re expected to warm up again for a while.
I definitely need to remember to close my window for the night. It’s only open a few inches, and I was cozy under my covers, but I woke to find 6 cats plastered against me, 4 around my face and shoulders, trying to keep warm! 😄🤣
I am so not looking forward to winter. My tolerance for cold, and winter in general, has really dropped a lot in the last few years! Medical emergencies and vehicle breakdowns have contributed significantly to that. 😄
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 