My weekend resolution was that I was not canning one single thing til Monday. I may pick and shell peas but they’ll go into the fridge til Monday. I am not canning this weekend. One reason is that my canner has been hijacked for another purpose this weekend. Another reason is that there were some other things I wanted to make and with a kitchen the size of a small peanut, there’s only room for one project at a time.
I thought I explained to the garden that I didn’t want any produce this weekend but I guess it just didn’t comprehend what I was saying!
Vince is the grill starter around here. The new grill has a propane starter so I think from now on, I’ll just start it myself. Do you ever think that your husband does things just to get out of having to do it again? I asked him to put the charcoal on the grill and get it started. He knew what I was going to grill. Can you see how much little charcoal is on there? He told me the grill was ready and I asked if there was a charcoal shortage. Last time we were in Abilene, it was on sale at Lowe’s and I think we bought about 10 huge bags. There was no way this was enough charcoal so he added more and re-lit it and then I got the show on the road. I grilled all the eggplant I had picked this morning. Some of those will go into Caponata. Some will get frozen for the next time I want to make Caponata.
Next went zucchini. The zucchini are producing like . . well, zucchini! See the nice hot coals after we added more charcoal? Good help is sometimes hard to find! We had grilled zucchini with our hamburgers. Also on the grill are peppers. I picked every pepper that was needing picking – there are ancho, poblano, pimento – everything went onto the grill, got roasted, the skins were peeled off, seeds were removed and they were frozen.
I’m trying to talk Vince into picking our big watermelon. I sure wish I could see for sure if it’s ripe. I’m afraid if I leave it too long, it will rot or a critter will get it but if I pick it before it’s ripe . . that’s not good! He said he would go out with me in a few minutes and thump it. I keep thumping on the ones I know aren’t ready and then I thump the big one and I think it sounds ready . . but what do I know?
Dar in MO says
Your grill looks yummy good. I can smell it all the way here in MO!!! 🙂
Do what our grandparents did – plug it. Cut a small triangle shaped plug and pull it out and taste it. If it’s not quite ready, just stuff it back in, cover the cut with some masking tape or the all handy silver duct tape and wait a couple more days. Good luck.
Doreen says
Never heard of that! Makes so much sense……thanks!
Linda in NE says
I for one think you know plenty……but then, what do I know????? 🙂
Kathy C says
I saw a segment on TV this morning about how to know if a watermelon is ripe. The produce man said to look on the bottom where it lies on the ground. If there is a yellow area, its ripe.
Kathy says
What kind of grill are you using? I didn’t think they made a propane and charcoal grill combo any more
Mary C in WA says
You can test the stem on the watermelon too. It should make a good thumping sound to be ripe. I shelled my peas tonight and picked the almost last of my Strawberries. I love my flowerbed garden. Green beans are next to come on. And my Walla Walla onions too.