It was in the 30s yesterday morning. I stayed with Granny and it was way up in the day before I remembered my two volunteer watermelons that were still laying out in the garden.
When I told Granny she said “Goodness what else have you left out?” I had to admit I needed to pick beans, harvest peppers, cut okra, and grab the last of the tommy-toes. She warned me my days before frost arrived were dwindling away.
I didn’t harvest everything yesterday evening when I got home, but I did manage to get the watermelons.
The small melons we usually grow are long gone. The two I had left came from a volunteer plant in the front garden.
I’m not sure if I threw out some watermelon seeds or if one of the ones I planted last summer suddenly came to life this year.
Volunteer plants are often vigorous and produce better than the plants we actually plant. Sometimes I wonder if I could plant next year’s garden right now and let it all be volunteers 🙂
We’ve had cooler morning temperatures this year compared to last September. I’m hoping that portends a snowy winter.
The decrease in temperatures we’ve had over the last two weeks have pretty much decimated my late summer tomatoes. Looks like The Deer Hunter was right to question planting them. They looked so lush and lovely and then the cold air moved in and they were quickly on the downhill slide.
Last night’s video: Chore Day: Making Cheese and Vinegar, Putting Up Food, Harvesting, and Gardening.
I’m new to your blog and am amazed at your hours, as they say you are up with the chickens! You work so hard, I’m 76yo and I suppose I worked really hard when I was younger. Sometimes I look at your videos and feel you look so very tired, it’s wonderful you have your girls to help you and you sure have taught them well. I grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia and so much of what you talk about reminds me of my parents, I can still see my Daddy drinking coffee from a saucer. It makes me happy to see you celebrating Appalachia, I dearly love it!!!
Shirley-I’m not actually up that early 🙂 I schedule the post to publish at that time. As far as being tired-I’m not tired at all 🙂 I’m as they say living the dream and loving every minute of it!! God has richly blessed me 🙂
I grew a 44 lb watermelon this year!!! My biggest ever. It was a jubilee heirloom variety. Super sweet and delicious! I’m thinking I’ll plant some more of those next year. I’m a West Tennessee boy in exile in Texas. I guess if you have to be in exile the Texas is the place. Most people don’t know it but “The Volunteer State” got it’s name when Ol’ Sam asked for 1000 volunteers during the conflict for Texas independence. Tennessee sent 25,000! Hence the well deserved name. I am duty bound to remind Texas folks of that point as often as I deem necessary!
I am actually glad to see the killing frosts come this year. We’ve had 2 light ones; one last week & one last night. Didn’t get a good crop of tomatoes or squash. Herbs didn’t do much, & have already harvested & dried what was there. Now I need the frost to cure my dry beans & Indian corn. Need a couple of good HARD frosts to do that. Usually, I am running around like a nut gathering things in before they get killed, but there’s not much left out there. It was a weird garden year. I do still have carrots to get in, but they don’t mind a frost or too – makes ’em sweeter. Also would like a frost to set the grapes (concord), that I scavenge around the corner on the roadside. I’ve been trying them for 2 weeks, but they need a frost to sweeten them up. Hope that watermelon is sweet! Hard to grow them up here in NY without a greenhouse/hoop house or knowing the tricks for starting them early. Only ever had one year that I could get them to grow.
Tipper, I love your comments about volunteers! At the beginning of this season, I took compost and fortified the soil in my garden spotwith it. As the garden began to break the ground some unknown plant began to appear alongside what I’d planted. And, it grew … and it grew and … suddenly I had something resembling a cucumber. In the end, I had a bumper crop of butternut squash. I’d never grown them before and the seeds must have come from the compost. They have been delicious and I still have many stored to eat later in the Fall! It is so rewarding to plant seeds, watch them grow and then harvest the crop but it’s a special treat to find volunteers, have no clue what they are as you watch them grow and then reap some bonus that Mother Nature herself decided we needed. In 66 years, I’ve never been disappointed with a volunteer!
Wow!! 30’s already!! That sounds winter-like to a Texan.
We have had a couple of nights this week in the upper 50s but daytime highs are still in the low 90s. It feels like a cold front after a summer of triple digit temps. I realize that those temps are more or less normal for Western NC. When we lived in Raleigh, it seemed that the first frost always came during the NC State Fair, the 2nd or 3rd week of October. Here in central Texas it is sometimes as late as December.
If this storm goes up to Charlotte as currently predicted, y’all are likely to get a lot of rain. Be careful.
That new avatar is my grandmother, by Pa’s mother, who was born in Swain County a few days before the Civil War started. The photo was taken in the mid ’40s. She had 17 grandsons in World War II and all came back alive.
Tipper – I loved you mentioning Tommi-toes. I have crossed my Tammi-G tommi-toes with my Abe Lincolns and have developed a right nice large cherry like tomato that is hardy and prolific and is still producing 10 to a grouping probably right up to frost. I call them Tommy-Ts. I have six plants and would say they have produced a full-sized bushel to the delight of family, neighbors, and friends.
I wrote a book a coupla years ago, “Casual Gardening.” I’ll send you a copy. And if you and Hunter ever get over this ways to Weaverville, your mighty welcome to visit my humble casual garden.
Love your Blog. You are the the Queen of Appalachian Lore – such a refreshing and fun way to document these Appalachians.
Tom Tenbrunsel
Tenbrunsel.com
Tipper, that’s a nice size watermelon you have. I hope it tastes as good as it looks. I’m so glad you remembered it. Sometimes I feel like the volunteer plants that come up are little fighters. It’s like they are telling us, ” I’ll show you”, LOL. They are the tough plants. Randy, I agree with Mr. Ron. Your friend Mr. Ben only planting 24,000 sweet potato plants this year, I can’t even imagine that many, let alone what he has planted in the past. What a farmer!!
Love seeing that huge watermelon, as I love watermelon too. We have had quite a few very cool mornings here in SC PA yet it is still warming up in the high 60’s. I hope you get all the snow and it misses me as I had my fill of it when I was much younger:)
Our youngest son showed me how to make Ricotta cheese which was almost like your video except we used vinegar. Oh my it was delicious Tipper. I thought it had a mild sweet nut flavor. I loved it! So much better than the store bought Ricotta.
You should try an experiment where these volunteers came up – another watermelon seed, strawberry seed, fennel, kale, moringa, maybe a pumpkin, and a zinnia seed. Wonder if anything would take – mystery garden surprise. Maybe some of that herb that Cori planted and you all pulled up – bet that would take off! LOL
That is a big watermelon! I know you will enjoy it. I agree volunteer plants seem to grow more hardier than seeds we just plant. It’s funny how that works, but thankful for them. I’ve decided next year to just plant in my tubs so our ground can rest. However, if any volunteer plants grow like they did this year, I’m going to let them grow and take over the garden patch and see how they produce.
What a beautiful watermelon! I hope it tastes as good as it looks!
Wow! Almost frost already. That sounds like it must be unusual. We had high 40’s this morning about daylight which is also cooler than usual for September.
As for volunteers, some seeds need a specific amount of cold before they will break dormancy. That’s obviously not the case though with garden seed (unless by chance the seed one buys was “stratified” before being packed? never thought of that possibility before!) And as you know seeds remain viable for varying lengths of time. So that comes out as surprise! What is that mystery plant and where did it suddenly come from? And as you say, somehow they often outdo the ones we take such care with. Such was the butternut squash volunteer down in the edge of one of our leaf piles. Wasn’t sure what it was. Transplanted it and got 9 aquash. To quote johnny Jett, “Thank you, Lord.” Amen.
And about the waning tomatoes, there is the “usual” and then there is the “once in a while”. Gardening requires some degree of risk taking because, as the bible says, “thou knowest not what shall be”. In another year, late tomatoes might work out fine. You all may have a version of my challenge, I have room to spare for fall garden but not enough room for the summer one. So I’ll take chances letting summer things grow into the fall, partly also because pests are fewer. Worth a try and if it fails I can chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Randy, more than 6200 feet of sweet potato row your friend Ben has. My word! That’s farming. And that is a whole lot of eating. I think I may never see a sweet potato again without recall you and Ben.
Wow…you did have a chilly morning temp…I woke up to 62 and most of the rain from Ian, the hurricane, Praise the Lord has come and gone. It being so late in the season, I am praying that we are done with ‘that’ season. It seems to be going up the east coast and that there might be a lot of rain on your east coast. The watermelon looks so tasty and I have a feeling that Granny and the rest of your family will enjoy some. Stay warm and safe and well. God Bless.
We’ve had cool temps in the 40’s for over a week so yesterday I pulled and picked off the last of the peppers and I’m going to pickled them later today. I used the recipe you found on Lady Lee’s website and boy is it good! I’m going to use it for the peppers and some of the cabbage that we have picked out of the garden. We still have cauliflower and Brussel sprouts left so they’ll love these temps and a watermelon. I’m hoping the watermelon will ripen up soon, but I’m beginning to have my doubts.
Lord have mercy, lady bug!!! What a beautiful melon you are proudly holding and ain’t it a whopper and Jim Dandy??? Wishing for snow are you? I hope you get a bunch and some how it passes by here…. lol When I lived in NC I remember chomping at the bit to get to WV and see some snow and cold weather. I was young then and didn’t know arthritis. Bad news on my end. I saw a ugly black/ brown puma about 6 feet long at least and weighing about 100 pounds stalking a deer at sunset 2 houses away from me. He done stole my stroke survivor cat Ham Biscuit without a trace or cry. It’s pretty dang scary not even seeing a raccoon around for awhile…. I’ve never dreamed of this to occur… help deer hunter!!! I put up my outdoor furniture (that goes airborne) with a hurricane possibly heading this way…. all outside left are flowers and my dog tree. Btw somebody ate my figs too. Daggone it y’all!!! It’s rough up here! Hunt or be hunted I guess- each critter for hisself!!!
I just love your blog. Even reading the comments are enjoyable. I am in Georgia, but we are already dipping into the 40s here. A little earlier than normal. I have some immature butternut squash that I hope finish. Although I have already picked around 25 or so. They are from seed that has been saved and they have developed a long neck that provides more flesh that a normal butternut. They keep very well and I will can some of them for butternut squash soup. Have planted carrots, beets, turnips, kale, & lettuce by seed in small hoop house that I will cover when it gets colder. Have also planted cabbage,collards, & broccoli plants. Alot of people do not plant fall gardens, but I’m in zone 7b that really does give to all year gardening. The trick for winter is that the plants have to have some growth on them before winter sets in. Collards only get sweeter after a frost! Happy gardening to you!
I also have found that volunteer plants do much better. I suppose it is because they endure harsh environmental elements that make them stronger than the seeds/plants that we start ourselves. I think it is also kind of like pruning; it makes plants grow bushier and produce more. We are like that as well when we have to endure harsh situations or when God prunes us it is to help us grow stronger in Him and hopefully produce more fruit for Him.
Tipper, I hope those last watermelons are the best you’ve had this season! Enjoy them for all of us 🙂
It is still to early for frost in upper state SC, the morning temperatures are beginning to be in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. I love these temps. It will usually be late October before we have a frost. My Daddy liked to leave his sweet potatoes in the ground as long as he could but worried about an unexpected frost. He thought if it came a killing frost with the vines still on them it would ruin the potatoes. I have heard they would be ok with a light frost if you pulled the vines off. Tomatoes can not take frost. Here we say we have three types of frost- frost on the roof tops, frost on the windshield and a killing or heavy frost. It is strange how volunteer plants will come up from seed that has been left out in all types of weather while we think we have to be so careful with the seed we save. Mother had volunteer citrons that would come back each year. I have mentioned my friend Ben and teased Tipper about eating one his 100 lb watermelons , he said Sunday he had 14 more rows of sweet potatoes each over a hundred yards long to take up. He only planted 24,000 plants this year.
Tipper i hope you get snow knee deep to a giraffe this year, but please keep it in Murphy or your neck of the woods. After 38 years of driving to work in it (no matter how bad) I don’t care for it.
That’s a beautiful watermelon you’re holding in the picture! Knowing how much you love watermelons I’m surprised you haven’t eaten it before now, I’m sure I would have eaten it by now. I love watermelons like you do Tip!
It always hurts my heart when the cold weather threatens to kill the last of the garden and there will be no more of those glorious home-grown tomatoes and watermelons!