Let me tell you the story of the Bradford Watermelon Scar.

Dear Folks,

If you have been reading my posts for a while, you know I planted and have harvested a couple of Bradford Watermelons, and heirloom "discovered" several years ago growing in the backyard of the original grower's heirs.

To say this watermelon variety is worth every effort to grow it, is an understatement. The fruit, even under-ripe is incredibly sweet -- all the way through the white rind -- just amazing.  (You can use the white rind as you would a cucumber.)

Pictured is the comparison of the scar when we first discovered the damage and after harvesting the fruit.  Don't let the ugly appearance of the scar fool you, it is the same kind of damage branches rubbing on a growing fruit produces.  The fruit 'sealed' and 'healed' -- this is the story.  For the purpose of this collage, I flipped the harvest scar to show you the orientation.  The scar never changed - never got worse, only grew in proportion to the growing fruit.

You can read the my other posts here on my growing adventures.

First Bradford Harvest

Second harvest and I dropped it!

So on to the last Bradford Watermelon harvest of the year, November 27th we noticed the vine had suddenly collapsed. Time to harvest the remaining viable watermelon.

This one had a special place in my garden journey.  After discovering the fruit under some vine on October 12th, I placed a paper plate under it to protect from the soil-born bacteria which can rot the fruit.

4 days later we spotted damage to the fruit by a squirrel.  The little stinker had shown up rather suddenly and contemporaneously discovered our fruit!

We discussed the 'nature' of the damage and determined it was literally only skin deep, so I decided to let it continue growing - now with a chicken wire hat to protect it, and it worked perfectly.  (Check out my youtube channel for a couple of short videos on using chicken wire hats.)

When we notice the vine had collapsed on November 27th I harvested the last melon, the one with the scar.  Pictured you can see how much it had grown.

In the early pictures I was amazed at just how fast it was growing.  The first picture showing when we discovered the fruit and I slipped a paper plate under it, for ratios the plate is 9 inches wide, and the fruit is about 7 inches long.  4 days later the fruit was as long as the width of the plate.

When I harvested it using my hand and the subsequent baking tray I have the cut melon on, the fruit had reached about 15 inches long.

After I started cutting the melon I remembered the scar and took a photo to illustrate the original work of the squirrel and not invaded the fruit and merely remained a scar on the outside.  Not pictured clearly is that the scar thickened outside not inside the skin.

So really ugly scar amazingly delicious fruit, even slightly under-ripe.  It could have probably gone another couple of weeks, but I did not want to chance it since the vine had collapsed.

I will have seeds from the earlier and possibly this fruit in my seedbank.

. . .

>> eBundle coming in January - Watch for updates as they become available -- the eBundle will be available for one week only <<



Have a great weekend in the garden and kitchen!


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Watermelon "Lemonade" and Hibiscus Roselle

Dear Folks,

We harvested the next big Bradford Watermelon this past Sunday, and in one of those "DARN!" moments, I dropped it!

I had been waiting on this one looking for the tendril to dry as the first one I harvested was really, really good, but could have stayed on the vine longer AND the seeds were not viable. So with this one harvested I thought we had a double winner, bigger, better fruit and with viable seeds.

After the melon crashed to the floor and we salvaged the pieces, the fruit looked a bit past its prime.  Good tasting but actually not as good as the first one.  However the fruit made wonderful drinking juice (making ""Lemonade" out of lemons) and the seeds are viable - Yippeee!

I now  have 1st generation Bradford Watermelons seeds to sow in January.  I am also going to put the germinating test seeds in some jiffy pellets and see if I can have happy transplants in January.  Watermelons are typically sown/planted in January/February.

My view on when to pick ripe, at least for this melon is going to be the "thump" test instead of looking for the tendril to dry.

My Roselle plants are just heavy with the calyx ready for harvesting and using.  I decided to dry some and they dried nicely in the sun.  The picture shows a fresh one and the dried petals.  The lemony / cranberry flavored treats can be used in teas and other dishes.

I had some left over turkey soup I had made, so I thought "turkey and "cranberry" and topped the hot soup with a small sprinkle of the roselle dried petals.

We agreed the flavor and contrast with the soups was delicious, the cranberry flavor was very subdued, so the over all taste was a lemony topping to the soup.  Very nice.  The petals softened some but were still a nice chewy texture to the soft noodles.

I will probably add them to dishes like Pasta Primavera.  I would suggest you try them in any dish which calls for lemon or lime additions.  You will be pleased.

Have a great day in the garden and you kitchen making delicious meals from your bounty!

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Around the Garden - September 24, 2016 - Pumpkin, Ginger, Turmeric, Watermelon, Sage & Roselle

Dear Folks,

My garden like any garden has its ups and downs.

I am always happy to see the mostly-ups in our gardens and the rewards.

The male flower of the "Upper Ground Sweet Potato Pumpkin" is huge, and I finally spotted some female flowers yesterday and keeping my fingers crossed.  After the first seeds I planted did not take I replanted amongst my purple sweet potato plants and they took off.

Pumpkin-Sprouted-after 5 days

Just in case, I decided to push the planting limits and just replanted some seeds 4 days ago near my Bradford Watermelon.  We shall see.  I got the seeds for this heirloom pumpkin, one which was grown at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate, from Baker Creek Seeds.  Reportedly a pumpkin tasting like sweet potato, maybe planting it with my sweet potato will make for a happy union. :-)

One of the "downs" - my huge (5+ feet across) Common Garden Sage has died back.  This old plant, probably 9+ years old has been a part of my garden and one I enjoyed harvesting.  The one bright spot is a piece of it is still alive. I won't try to prune back until later in October.

Sage goes slightly dormant in the summer and can be over-watered.  However this may be a case of competition because of all the tree roots around it, in addition to other herb shrubs like Rosemary.  I will see what I have when I begin to prune later.

Meanwhile, I put some more Ginger in the garden in a new place (August 20th) where Turmeric (planted July 6th, up August 5th) liked its location very much, thank you!

Ginger

This is the observation part of gardening in the desert, or anywhere else for that matter, it is what it takes to be more successful.

It is important to learn the characteristics of your garden.  It is your living friend and benefits from your keeping in touch with it regularly. :-) -- Catherine

Turmeric

In the case of these tropical root crops, they like dappled shade here in the Valley.  The problem with the original locations where they did well was the ebb and flow of the garden shade.  We had to take our a tree and a huge banana plant over the years which exposed the original location to far more sun than the ginger liked.  As a result the Ginger struggled each of the last couple of years.  I will be moving the old plant (while seeing if there is a harvestable root) to this new location.  If all goes well next year I should have a nice harvest of ginger.

The real pleasure of our garden this month was the official harvest of our first Bradford Watermelon.  I can't say enough about this awesome fruit.  The entire fruit is edible, the white part tastes like a cucumber, crisp and slightly sweet.  Right now I am testing the viability of the seeds.  I hope to have a 1st generation desert grown Bradford next year.

This one weighed around 20 pounds.  There is one more which I am letting go until the tendril dries out. This first one could have gone a bit longer before harvesting, but I just could not wait because it passed the 'thump' test.

I am also going to bake some of the skin with a bit of oil and salt when I harvest the last one.  The Bradford, known for its extremely tender skin and fruit (cuts like butter) was "lost" for decades because it could not be shipped.  Thankfully the modern family members chose to share the seeds and other products.

. . .

REMINDER:

Free Seed Share Next Friday, and Free Lecture Next Saturday. 

One last plant growing in the garden.  My Roselle are about 5 feet tall now. Buds showing.  I should have open flowers within 2 weeks, followed by the delicious and gorgeous flower calyx.  Hibiscus sabdariffa is an outstanding plant in the warm weather garden.  The entire plant is edible, including the leaves.  The tangy lemony/cranberry flavor is mostly found in the burgundy cayx, but the leaves have some of the flavor too.  Use it raw - I added to a BLT sandwich the other day along with sweet potato and Egyptian Spinach leaves* - in salads and some traditional recipes pickle the leaves for later use. A high Vitamin C source from an incredible food plant.

* Regular lettuce varieties do not grow in the warm weather here in the desert, so I have been experimenting with using warm/hot weather lettuce options with great results - and taste!

Links on my website for my calendar and books

Did you miss my podcast interview on Herbs with Greg Peterson at the Urban Farm?

Check it out here.

Have a great time in the fall garden!


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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 Disclaimer: Clicking on links on this blog may earn me a small commission if you purchase something. Your price does not change.

Bradford Watermelon "Making Lemonade out of Lemons" or Salad out of Damaged Melon

Dear Folks,

When life gives you lemons (challenges) make lemonade!  That is the happy way of looking at something unexpected.  Well, folks, I've got a great recipe for you, simple and tasty using a damaged, immature Bradford Watermelon.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the heirloom Bradford Watermelon I am so excited about its progress in our gardens.

Then several days ago, Deane noticed damage to the end of the 'youngest' melon.  Darn, but we thought, well let it go for more seeds.  But I was keeping an eye on it and the damage was extending.  Several readers on facebook said to cut and toss as it would be taking energy from the plant.  True.  But I wanted to see what I could do with the remaining melon.

Back in early August while inspecting the plant, I accidentally broke a baby Bradford off and thought first about composting then realized it really looked like a zucchini and found it a wonderful tasting "cucumber/zucchini" type food.  Read about that here.

So I did harvest the damaged melon yesterday, cut the bad end. (It is either blossom end rot or a critter or bacteria got into it before I could get it up on a brick to keep it off of the soil.)

I cut the damage part off and tasted a slice of the good part and was again so impressed with the taste. Even though it is not fully ripe, the pink is slightly sweet and all of the fruit is pleasant (no bitterness at all) cucumber like taste and texture.

I put it aside and figure I would see about using at least some of it later.

I had errands to do and one of them was to Costco.  While going down an aisle I spotted marinated artichoke hearts and BINGO I knew what I was going to do with my unripe melon.  I LOVE artichoke hearts, marinated or otherwise.  I can eat bowls full.  I've made dips with them - so good and good for you, love to add them to so many things, not just salads but pasta too.  Some years ago I made an Artichoke / Bean Hummus dip for a demo at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It was devoured.

Preparing The Melon

I decided to remove the very, very thin skin with a potato peeler.  One of the remarkable things about the Bradford -- the tender, tasty skin -- if I had the time I would have tossed with a bit of oil and salt and roasted them to a crisp - maybe the next one.   :-)

I cut up the melon, removing the seeds (they are not mature enough to germinate) added an equal amount of artichoke hearts and since I did not get this done last night, today I will cut up some celery, add and toss.  The marinade from the artichoke hearts will be enough dressing.  I will think about adding some basil when it mix, but I'm wanting to keep that "cucumber/melon" flavor shining.

As an afterthought I could have saved the seeds, and like the skin tossed with oil and salt and roasted them.  I was tired when I got the chopping done so I did not think about this.  You did know watermelon seeds are edible didn't you? :-)  Just like pumpkin seeds they make a great roasted snack.

The amount of melon in the bowl is just a small part - I have about a half gallon container of more so we are going to be enjoying melon for a few days.  I will have to see what else I can make with this so-good fruit.  If I come up with some keeper recipes I will post.

Coming Up

FREE SEED SHARE - September 30th, 9 a.m. to Noon at the Mesa Farmers Market - watch for more details.

FREE lecture at Mesa Urban Garden, October 1st, 4:30 p.m. - Fall - "Planting Like It Is Spring" in the Desert Garden!  Watch for more details.

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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