Watermelon Harvest... Finally
We harvested our first watermelon on Labor Day. It wasn’t quite ripe, so we decided to leave the others on the vine as long as possible. When the vine began dying back, Anne harvested the remainder, figuring there was no point waiting any longer. She was right; these watermelons were ripe and delicious. We don’t think we’ll be growing watermelons next year, however. For one thing, the vines tend to take over the rest of the garden, and more importantly, we’re not really in the mood for watermelon in mid-October! Still it was fun having our own home-grown.
Watermelon family portrait. “Pee-wee,” the smallest melon, was about the size of a bowling ball. (No, we didn’t actually name them, but that would have been fun.)
And now for Something Completely Different.™ It’s the the new taste sensation that’s sweeping the nation (not): the pawpaw (the Wikipedia entry). Someone in one of Anne’s classes was giving them out. The tree is native to Pennsylvania, but the fruit’s flavor is decidedly tropical, although very subtle. The texture is unique in my experience—extremely smooth and creamy. I was surprised that I had never even heard of the pawpaw before. They don’t seem to be available commercially, at least not where we shop.