Season's Best

I asked the Mister if he would drive out to our favorite farm market and pick up a couple of melons along with corn that he craves. I asked him to get one small cantaloupe and one small watermelon. What did he come home with? He said the cantaloupe were all very large so he chose the smallest of the large ones. The watermelon was just right, small but not tiny or overly large either. The cantaloupe was H U G E!!

It was heavy and gave me a hard time, rolling around in my large sink when scrubbing down the rind, which had already been washed. (I always do it again myself.) Then, cutting and cubing the flesh took effort and quite a time to complete, but - but - IT WAS WORTH IT!  Critters high up in the woods will have a glorious time munching on the remains! Shared and enjoyed by all. YUM! 

Good For You

Do you know that cantaloupes are bursting with nutrients? They are loaded with vitamin A, and vitamin C and even are a good source of potassium. They are full of flavor and low in calories. They have water and fiber. I have FOUR here today. Well, not really - we ate almost all of one already! Our local farm market was our source and they were only $2.00 each!! Yes, I took a ride out after being leg-challenged for almost 4 weeks. I didn't get out of the car, but the Mister was a good sport and did the cantaloupe shopping. 

When we were in SC we always hit the fruit stand for the fresh Athena melons that came up from Georgia. They were our favorite but we don't seem to find them here. They have a longer ripening period and remain firm and sweet without becoming soft. They closely resemble the local cantaloupes - in appearance. This is an Athena.

I just gave an alert to my neighbor and daughter who now plan to head on out there and get their own!

Click on image to view larger

F-F-F-F-F-F Friday

Fresh From Farmer's Field Fruit Frenzy!
This is the second half of our second one. The sweetness and juiciness is so worth the trip out to the local farm market. Of course, we also bought some corn. I'm now fermenting some cantaloupe seeds and hope that my brother, grandson, daughter, and neighbor will give a try to grow a few next year. They would have to be started indoors three to four weeks before transplanting. They like it dry and warm in fertile and well-drained soil.

OH! Two more "F's" for Friday! 

I wanted to mention that it is a wonderful sight to see a Father Feeding his sons!

please click on image to view larger

Ah! Summertime...

Really warm and humid here. We went to the library and then rode out to our favorite farm market. They open at 10am and we arrived at 9:55. Parking lot was full; inside there were already many shoppers. This is the place to go! We watched the unloading of a heap of corn from a box that was on the back of a ATV. When we put it in a bag it was still very warm from the sun! How fresh is that!! The cantaloupe bin was full and those were also a bit warm. A young girl was still packing the beautiful string beans into aerated bags. They went fast. Of course there were tomatoes, peppers, beets, squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers of all sizes, and I forget what else. We went for corn. I can only do so much now. 

Field to freezer in 7 hours!

please click on image to view larger

I can hardly wait to open the cantaloupe!