I got the seeds! Thank you!
First cantaloupe harvested yesterday. Sweet, lots of flesh, from the largest, earliest and most productive plant.
2nd harvested today, and 3rd probably in the next few days, all from the same plant.
Most of the plants havenāt fruited yet. 4 have immature fruits.
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A friend was overflowing with squash, so I magnanimously 
took it off her hands. Processed the zucchini, cucumbers, scallop, and then got to something she called cucuzinni.
I was really looking forward to this one, because she said the squash bugs and vine borers completely ignored it. Itās a type of gourd, so itās not used as a winter squash. It grew without help and took over everything.
My enthusiasm lasted until I cut one open. My hands were immediately coated with this glue-like latex sapāit would not peel off, it would not wash off. No wonder bugs wonāt touch it.
The rest are still sitting on the counter, staring at me accusingly. Chickens donāt want it either. I havenāt tasted it yet because Iām still smelling that latex as I scrubbed my hands endlessly while scraping at that stuff.
Edible it might be, but I suspect that breeding against that latex might make it very attractive to insects.
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I did an adaptive gardening presentation at the farmers market last Tuesday. Ran out of fliers (I took 20, Iāve run out each time) and had a lot of interesting conversations.
If I can time it right, I want to do a watermelon tasting to infuse some ācommunityā into my landrace. That will require 3 plants ripening at the same time, though.
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Canāt find anything about the cuczinni, so i wouldnāt know. Great if people in your area are interested in adaptation gardening! Hopefully you find someone willing to follow through. Can speed things up significantly for local adaptation.
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I pulled out the freeze tests for the two melons.
The first to be harvested is a smooth skinned ribbed canteloupe. It seems to be a favorite of the garden marauders, and I understand why. It ripens beautifully and has a good flavor. It was the first to ripen, the best adapted, and also the most prolific, from only one plant. They dry well.
Frozen it turned to mush but the sweetness increased.
2nd is a dark green ribbed canteloupe, but it splits long before itās ready, allowing insects in. I have harvested only one that didnāt end up going to the chickens simply because they werenāt ripe. They dry well. I have several more plants of this type, so if they donāt split Iāll throw out the seeds for this one.
The one ripe melon maintained itās crunch and flavor in the freezer but acquired a faint bitterness.
All others are still not ripe, although I expect a couple will ripen this weekend.
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Late planting update.
At the end of July/beginning of August I planted:
Popcorn is knee high but no tassels yet. It was hit by armyworms but seems to be recovering.
Cucumbers have both male and female flowers but none ready to eat yet.
One of the melons has a female flower. All have male flowers. These are from the gts delicious mix and my own mix.
Watermelons are sprawling but no blossoms yet.
Green beans may be getting their first blossoms.
Winter squash planted into the pollinator garden is alive but not happy. It just sits there.
One of the moschatas in the main garden has a blossom on it. The rest are only a few inches tall.
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Marshmallow seeds!
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Late July planted:
Cucumbers are ready to pick, so maybe 40 days to first harvest? Probably wonāt get any seeds from this group.
Corn is tasseling but no silks yet
Beans coming on. Ditto on 40 days
A small watermelon visible, so maybe an October harvest?
Moschatas busy sprawling. The female flower hasnāt opened. No male flowers yet.
One melon has a female flower that has started to swell. October?
I think next year Iāll give it another 2 weeks and plant mid July. Normal years are hotter and much drier. The heat would be an advantage to melons and squash, but drought would likely cancel out that advantage. If I plant them with a gallon of water as I have done in the past, that may be sufficient.
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I accidentally threw out my marshmallow seeds. Lots more on the plant. I think Iāll plant them next year all along the fence, where theyāll get more shade during the hottest part of the day.
Rhubarb didnāt make it again.
Licorice is doing great.
My most prolific melon has died, with about 10 unripe melons on it. Others still look fine. I suspect the main stem was stepped on by a deer. At the beginning of the season I put dirt over part of the stem but it didnāt root. Iām hoping that tendency can be reintroduced.
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The young melons are trying to make up for lost time. Young cucumbers in full production. One of the new beans is purple, so Iām going to let it go to seed. Young watermelons also have fruit on them, and some of the old vines are producing again.
Iām torn as to whether to get rid of any newer fruits on the new plants so they can put all their energy into the oldest. But I also want them to continuously produce even after ripening a fruit.
Moschatas had both first male and first female blossoms today, so I pollinated the females manually. No sign of squash bugs or vine borers yet.
Popcorn is finally silking.
The non-cantaloupe type melons are taking a long time to ripen. I started harvesting cantaloupe in August, and the first melons on the other plants are still dawdling along a month later. No matter how I ask the question, the search engines think I mean planting to harvest, not blossom to harvest, so I donāt know how long itās supposed to take.
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I discovered that thereās a seed swap/ seed share at the Winfield library. I called and they gave me permission to put up fliers.
Now I need to decide what seeds to provide!
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I looked at the late season corn today. I pulled 3 plants that had no silks yet, broke off two more that had ears but no silk. Marked 3, although Iāll probably keep anything that produces this year. One had 3 cobs growing from a single leaf joint.
The others had 3 or more silks.
Many had 2, most 1. Lots of red and purple, variations of pink. Something has been nibbling the silks.
The new chicks are learning to forage, and doing a much better job of it than the adults. Although for some reason they donāt like cucumbers.
The āwinter testā on the melons is amusing. Apparently they have no dormancy period at all. It will be interesting to see if any come up next spring. Iāll put more in the ground after the first frost.
Both female and male blossoms on the moschatas, but I think Iāll pull off any late season females. Currently have at least one growing on each plant which is mature enough. One just got its secondary leaves. Another has about ten leaves.
Theyāre putting down node roots without my help.
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And of course those corn stalks I specifically marked for seed fell over in a relatively mild windstorm.
Seeing it all mature is beautiful, even if I donāt get any mature corn. The popcorn/flour corn will be priority next year.
The tomatoes are still green. I clipped them in hopes that theyāll ripen something before the cold hits.
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I dug one of the sweet potato plants. There were a few good sized roots that will probably last through to planting next year, but I could also see others down below, in the clay. The big feeder roots seem to be mostly in the woodchips. Weāll see how the soil is next spring.
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I think the melons are pretty much done. I pulled 2 of the last 3 from the dead vines but they donāt look ripe. The new vines have developing fruit, but some is rotting on the vine. The āfall plantingā test has every one of the new plants dead, although it hasnāt gotten below 60 degrees. Iāll put more in the ground after the first frost. Next spring Iāll be looking for late emergence, trying for seeds which recognize the right conditions before they sprout.
Corn is at 21 days from first silking and starting to fill out. Not ripe yet. The critters havenāt found it.
Iām still swimming in cucumbers from the second planting. Seed green beans are not ripening after months of the beans being on the vine.
Bell peppers are still coming on, but ripening smaller. Hot peppers are slow and steady, but they also have new blossoms and fruit.
Iām pulling the tomatoes as they start to blush and ripening them inside. I got my first tomato sandwich of the season this week. SMH
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I am addicted to growing stuff. I know this about myself. About November I start going stir-crazy and need to do something to solve the problem.
Thatās usually when I start planning next yearās garden and putting tree seeds in pots.
I also start experimenting, doing hydroponics tests, grafting tests, etc.
Apparently it has already hit. Last night I dreamed of grafting hundreds of tomatoes onto pepper and black solanum rootstocks. There were so many that even my subconscious realized it was out of control. I was having a three-way conversation with myself, with one of me wanting to do ALL THE THINGS!!! while another argued for moderation (just do three of each and rotate the scions) and the third was nearly in tears over wasting seeds.
My brain is weird.
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Ha ha! Yes, I always get cucurbit seeds germinating in August that (for whatever reason) didnāt come up in spring. Since I know they have no chance of making a fruit before the first frost kills them, I tend to carefully transplant them to my greenhouse and hope that theyāll be able to make it through the winter in there. 
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Donāt know where it came from, but Iāll take it. Yard long bean?
I planted a mix of dry beans in among the corn. Only a few plants have seeded, and this is one of them.
Lots of open and empty bean pods on the ground, so obviously I havenāt been paying attention. Weāll see if any come up in the spring.
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