Shule's 2021 garden grow log

[Shule]

I recently found out that rose leaves are edible (as long as the plant isn't given anything harmful to humans). I ate some a few weeks ago, and they were delicious. I like to experiment and try new things. So, I may experiment in order to find out what I like the powder in.

What did they taste like?

They had a perfumy apple-type taste, kind of like roses smell mixed with apples and rose hips, but it's hard to describe. I don't think I've ever had another green quite like it. The taste is similar to the taste of the flowers, but not quite the same.

[Julianna]

Interesting! I am wondering if they could make a good aromatic in a salad or added with something like a rice dish that contains sweet additions like raisins.

[Shule]

@Juli Ann
Okay, my first impression was this:

It might be a good aromatic in a salad. The leaves are firmer than your typical salad green, though; so, you might want to pair them with something thicker like kale or cabbage instead of lettuce.

I thought they'd be good with rice, but I wasn't sure about raisins.

So, then I got some raisins and picked some rose leaves, and I tried them together. Here's my analysis:

While the combination is not unpleasant, the raisins overpower the flavor/scent of the rose leaves. The aftertaste is good, though, and I can taste the rose leaves in it. I do think the rose leaf flavor could go nicely with the flavor of rice, but I haven't tried it, yet.

[Julianna]

@Shule I think that would be a good use! Also maybe boiled you could extract some.rose water and do sweet things, but that defeats the purpose of eating the greens.

[Shule]

So, I guess my tomato season isn't done, yet!

We still have tomatoes that haven't died from the frost (even though we've had lots of frosts). Mostly, they're Napoli tomatoes, and Morsel_A F1 (the mother of Morsel_A is Napoli; not sure about the father).

We're getting plenty of storage tomatoes ripening.

I'm in the process of saving seeds from Aunt Ginny's Purple, Orange Jazz, and . . . Stick! Yes, I found a Stick tomato plant that wasn't dead (all the others were long dead from being squashed by other tomatoes; apparently, it doesn't survive being squashed like most tomatoes do). Stick had about 8 to 10 fruits; the only reason it wasn't squashed was because I had it in its own tomato cage.

I need to save seeds from Napoli and some of the others out there.

A volunteer that I didn't list on my garden map due to not being in any of the spots I personally garden in has finally ripened. I found two slugs on it (and it had slug bites). So, it appears to have the following traits:
* Maybe 6 or 7oz
* Yellow fruit (not orange)
* Fluted, like Cotoluto Genovese
* I think it's indeterminate
* It kind of reminds me a bit of Galapagos Island (the way the plant looks).

So, this plant is somewhat of a mystery, because it's yellow and much larger than the yellow tomatoes I had last year, and not much smaller than my Purple Calabash cross tomatoes. When the slugs vacate (I don't want to interrupt their meal), I plan to save seeds.

Anyway, the yellow color would seem to imply that the parent was already a cross with a yellow father line--or else that it's a rare dominant yellow gene. The yellow doesn't look as pure yellow as Snacker_, but more like the yellow of Mexican Yellow (which borders on gold).

[Julianna]

That yellow sounds awesome!

[Shule]

I ate our last watermelons, from this year's harvest, today. They were getting soft.

[GoDawgs]

That's one long keeping melon! What variety was it, when did you harvest it and probably most importantly, where did you store it? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Shule]

@GoDawgs
There were two. One was part Carolina Cross #183, and I don't know what the other was. They might have been part winter watermelon. They were by our fireplace until it got cold; then we put them on the dining room table. Full-on winter watermelons can keep into December, though, if you don't eat them all (they keep for three to four months). Mine this year were all crosses, I believe, but most were part winter watermelon.

Here are some winter watermelon varieties to try:
* Navajo Winter (this one can keep for four months)
* King Winter (tastes like watermelon Jolly Ranchers)
* King and Queen Winter
* Winter Queen
* Navajo Red (excellent taste; strong diuretic; has red, medium-sized seeds)
* Black-seeded Ice Cream
* Santo Domingo Winter (great taste when refrigerated; few seeds)
* Santo Domingo Dark Green (large fruit and great taste; I don't think the seeds were particularly small)
* Santo Domingo Brown Seeded (large fruit, and great taste; bigger brown seeds)
* Wintermelon (excellent smell)

I've tried all of those, except for Black-seeded Ice Cream, and King and Queen Winter. The thing that's different about winter watermelons is that the skin (not the rind, but the very skin of the fruit) is a lot firmer. Most winter watermelons have small, black seeds.

You can find them at places like sandhillpreservation.com, nativeseeds.org, victoryseeds.com, and rareseeds.com.

The longest-keeping watermelon I've found is Red-seeded Citron, though. It can keep for over a year. However, it's not sweet, and the flesh is a whole lot firmer. You can use it in place of apples in desserts, with mock apple pie ingredients (e.g. citric acid, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar).

[GoDawgs]

@Shule, I had no idea there were winter watermelons out there and will have to look into that.

Are they really viney, i.e. space hogs?

[Shule]

@GoDawgs
They're a pretty normal size, as far as I can tell. Red-seeded Citron is huge, though.