Summer winds down

Things are slowing down now. I have the bulk of the winter crops in, garlic will soon go in the bed I have capsicums and watermelon in, and tic beans as a green manure have started to be planted. My corn is on its last legs. This week will likely be the last of them. There are still a couple of weeks of tomato left. Once the corn and tomato are finished I will sow tic beans to improve the soil.  The pumpkins are also nearing an end.

Tonight we started eating the first of the seasons pumpkin. 3 weeks ago I noticed one of the buttercups ready. The little nodule that joins the pumpkin to the vine had shriveled so I cut the pumpkin (with some of the vine attached) and left it in the sun for 3 weeks. We  are fussy with our pumpkin finding a number of varieties not too our liking such as sweet gray. However we really enjoyed the buttercup tonight. It had a rich deep orange colour and was lovely roasted.

The watermelon experiment will soon be tasted. Over March the vines have set a number of fruit and I am hoping they mature before the cold/frosty weather may arrive. They are only small, but I am hoping the are sweet. Whether growing watermelons in Tassie is worth it is another discussion, but I have the space to spare and the taste of these little boys will be interesting.

The capsicum has been a success. There are about 15 on each plant and they have been turning red since late February. I will be growing this variety again (Antohi Romanian).  While I hope the frost is not too early, once the frost does arrive it will herald the Oca harvest (Oxalis tuberosa). More on that next time.

watermelon (taken March 22)