Posted by oakandsage on 2013-08-15 02:20:23 UTC

So I have three volunteer tomatoes around where the Sunsugar was last year, and I didn't have much else there so I figured I'd just let them grow and see what happened. They've got small yellow fruit slightly larger than that of Sunsugar, but just barely - but it's sort of irregular. Not as irregular as an heirloom tomato but just slightly blobby - wider in one direction than in the other. What's really great, though, is the flavor on the two from one plant that were ripe today. They are as sweet as Sunsugar, but not as tart, and they have a really rich, umami flavor that is just spectacular. I think I'll save some seed and see what I get next.

The potatoes are finally falling over, so I should be able to harvest soon. I'm inclined to let the berries ripen and see what I get there too. I hear not every type of potato will set berries at all.

My first 'Minnesota Midget' cantaloupe changed color quite suddenly and slipped. I cut into it right away, even though the odor was not what I could wish and it seemed a little hard. There was nearly an INCH of green! I thought muskmelons did not slip until they were really, truly ripe? :/ Hopefully, better luck with the next one - if it doesn't smell enough, I'll just let it ripen off the vine for a few days and see if that helps. There looks to be quite a while left on the Charentais. I'm starting to wonder if there's some sort of pruning I should be doing, because I seem to have rather more tiny melons than I should have at this time of year, and the two big ones aren't growing at all fast. It's a tangle in there, though; I'm not sure I can tell wich shoots are from which plant. Also, I have at least four plants, but only one has any big melons on it. Possibly they are communicating via their root systems, though. I don't know how this works with melons.

Bell peppers will start coming ripe soon. This makes me happy. I like bell peppers, and they're expensive in the store.

Should have another crop of green beans ready to eat within the next couple days. I lament the difficulty of having enough green beans at the right stage of ripeness at one time.