Radishrain

We're growing Spacemaster cucumbers, this year. They're doing phenomenally well, especially considering that they're in soil that is probably kind of salty (due to being right next to a driveway that is salted in the winter). I don't know if they just like the year, or if it's an especially good variety for our garden (or maybe that soil is more ideal for cucumbers than I thought).

The fruits have been bitter from the start, but if you peel them first, that takes away all the bitterness.

https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/new-study-reveals-how-much-worse-air-conditioning-makes-the-spread-of-covid-19

So, I thought garden strawberries just multiplied by runners, or seed. But my plants (which were initially just one plant in each spot) now look like clumps of many plants. I wonder if they'll produce if I split them up. I wonder if they'll all stop producing at the same time, or if splitting them up renews their fruiting cycle.

Stick tomato

Offsite articles:
• Tatiana's TOMATObase
• Dave's Garden

Offsite forum search results:
• Google: Dave's Garden
• Google: Gardenweb
• Google: proboards.com
• Google: Tomatoville

heirloom_tomato

We got our first ripe tomatoes, today. There were three altogether: one from the Galapagos Island plant from a seed from a fruit with 5 locules, and the other two were from the Galapagos Island tomato from seeds from fruits that had withstood several hard freezes.

I gave the fruits to someone, who ate them, and said they were good, and described them as tart.

The fruits started to color a day or two ago.

I think the one from the 5-chamber plant is on the right, but I could be wrong:



As you can see the one from the 5-chamber plant doesn't appear to have five chambers, by the fruit size and shape. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the fruits. They're a nice color.

We were gifted a seedless watermelon recently (probably about 20lbs in weight). I cut it open and we ate about a slice of it altogether. Then I cut up the rest and started dehydrating it. Yes, the dehydrator fits about a whole store-bought seedless watermelon, although with thinner slices, maybe not. I was surprised six 15"x13" trays were enough! It was pretty heavy. I'm also dehydrating an apple, too, since there was a little room left over. I set it to 145° F. after I put all the trays in, but it was on 135° F. for a time (with already-loaded trays) while I was cutting up the watermelon and loading the other trays. I may have stuck with 135° F., but I heard it's pretty good with a temperature that isn't particularly low. So, we'll see.

Our Red-seeded Citron watermelons that we harvested last year aren't getting any younger. So, I decided to cut the two largest ones up, season them like I do for citron watermelon crisp, and dehydrate them! :)

Yes, seeding those watermelons took a nice duration to do.

I figure they can probably take a pretty high temperature, since they taste good fully cooked with those seasonings (brown sugar, citric acid, nutmeg, and cinnamon). So, I'll probably keep them on at least 145° F. as I dehydrate them (it's on 166 right now). The seasonings (probably the brown sugar) caused them to release juices (so, that should help the dehydration process).

I'm dehydrating a few grocery store Roma-type tomatoes, in thick slices, since there was some room left over after I cut up the watermelons. I filled about six 13" x 15" trays. The dehydrator can take six more trays, but the slices can be thicker with only six (and I only have six trays).

The tomatoes are on the top tray so that they don't get the watermelon seasonings dripping on them.

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