"What?!" said Bestie.
Bestie is quite talented at growing melons, cucumbers and zucchini at her house. One day I was looking at her little abundant garden and telling her she is great at growing curcurbits. Then I explained that curcurbita is the genus of the cucumber, melon, summer squash and winter squash family. (She is the cool friend, the extrovert. I am the nerdy introvert.) I'm kinda envious of her skill at growing these. I've already covered the Winter Squash haul in an eariier post. Here goes for the other side of the family:
Zucchini doesn't make it long around here. I mean that the plants come up, produce some fruit and I hope to get some harvested before the squash bugs move in and kill them off. Thank goodness zucchini is a fast grower and I can sow another batch in late summer for a fall crop. I'm obsessed with the different colors available now. From Territorial, I ordered Chiffon which is a hybrid with what they are calling a light yellow skin. From Baker's, I ordered Long White of Palermo; a light gray-green variety.
I'm not a big melon person. A couple years ago, I got ahold of a mess of smaller watermelons and was able to make a batch of Watermelon Rind Preserves like Grandma used to. I also made some really neat jams from the flesh. I do enjoy eating fresh watermelon. I have some of those small watermelon seeds saved and some other varieties on hand to plant. Handsome does NOT like watermelon; he's almost as vehement about that as he is about hot spicy food. However, Handsome really enjoys Honeydew and Cantaloupe (or Muskmelon as it's known around here). Bestie raised some really nice cantaloupes last year and we both saved seeds from them. From Territorial, I ordered a hybrid variety; Orange Silverwave, which is a Honeydew type.
I'm still learning to pickle. I've got the corner on relishes and have waaaaay too much canned already. One of these days, I will cover the "Hand Grenades" story from Dad. In honor of him, I was able to find West India Gherkin seeds from Pinetree. These are a small egg shaped and sized cucumber with spikes that extend out from the body. I've seen a couple Youtubers talk about white cucumbers and found the variety, Miniature White, to try from Territorial. Then I spent some big bucks - Johnny's had a new type of small cucumber hybrid called Quirk. It was almost $15 for the packet of 10 seeds. That's $1.50 a pop! What's the catch? They are half green and half white, divided right across their middles like little minions. My most expensive seed purchase this year. I can't wait to see how they turn out and what the pickles will look like!
What are you splurging on in your garden this year?