Last of summer produce

 The extra refrigerator is empty of all summer produce. I used the rest of the apples in a crisp and gave the last 6 pounds of carrots to a friend who was going to dehydrate them for soups. The only other thing in the refrigerator was a small melon that had been in there since mid-October. Remembering the liquified giant watermelon, I cut the small melon in the sink. But it was good!

A passable melon after a month in the refrigerator

It was a little squishy around the seeds, but cutting that part got rid of the seeds as well. Bonus! While not the best watermelon I ever ate, it was passable and better than what I expected after a month in the refrigerator.

I cleaned the refrigerator this morning. It looks a lot better without raspberry juice smeared on the shelf and too many dead fruit flies on the bottom to count. This is just where I want the spare fridge to be the weekend before Thanksgiving.

A clean refrigerator is a thing of beauty

Following an extremely gloomy spell, the sun finally came out yesterday. The girls were so excited to get back to their dust baths. Unfortunately, as I approached to take a picture, most of them ran to the fence to greet me in breathless anticipation for treats that I did not have. These were the only two left in the raised bed.

Dust bathing on a sunny day

It may get down below 20 degrees tonight. I’m not sure what the temperature will be in the high tunnel. I know that low 20’s will turn Brussels sprouts black. Not wanting to risk it, I harvested. My goal was to have Brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving, and I made it.

The high tunnel Brussels sprouts

You may recall from an earlier post that my Brussels sprouts did not do well this year. I think I may have topped them too soon. The best sprouts I have are ones that resprouted from a side bud after topping. This picture shows the new shoot with the young sprouts developing. You can see the joint between the two at the bottom of the picture.

A side shoot that I let grow is light blue-green above the greener green of the old shoot at the bottom.

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving with good food and good company!