chromedome

They won't be quite as sweet as the days grow shorter, and they won't be quite as sweet if they're picked more than a couple of days before peak ripeness (the best you can expect from a commercial grower). I have some 10 lbs or so ripening off the vine in a sunny spot right now, simply because they've fallen off the vine of their own accord or when I've brushed them in passing (the Romas seem really prone to doing both). Still have lots on the vines, so we'll see how they make out. Currently the 7-day forecast looks good, but I'll be in NS for a few days past that so it'll be tense.

I bring them home occasionally from Costco for the grandkids (strictly by request, if they don't ask they don't get 'em). Their mom generally tries for slightly healthier snacks like granola bars (just as much sugar, but some good stuff sneaking in there as well).

Those look very like what I know as a "Wagon Wheel" here in Canada, though I'm sure there are plenty of international equivalents.

My GF and I have a variation of this disagreement, in that she only likes thick soups: purees, cream soups, etc. I like them well enough, but eat broth-y soups more often than thick ones, by a ratio of maybe 5 or 6 to 1. So I'll often make a base soup, then remove 1/4 to 1/3 and puree it (and thicken further as needed) for her. I eat soup a lot more often than she does, because she eats just twice a day and her breakfast-time corresponds with my dinnertime, so that ratio works for us. Early in our relationship, when discussing meal options, I'd suggested soup and was stupefied by her response that "Soup isn't a meal!" Eventually I came to understand that this is because she grew up in a non-cooking family and "soup" was automatically Campbell's, divided between three siblings. So for her it was something you ate with a sandwich, or before the main dish; whereas for me hearty homemade soups (accompanied by nothing more than a slice of homemade bread) were a standard weekday meal.

At first glance my eye interpreted the cat-cutout and the toy truck as a chainsaw, which struck me as an odd decor choice. Then I blinked and it all came properly into focus. I've been dealing with our winter's firewood lately, so I'll blame it on that!

Doing it because you have to is a great motivator.

Ararat brand tahina/tahini is being recalled for salmonella, in Ontario and Quebec. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/ararat-brand-tahina-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

I grow a chard called "perpetual spinach," which is bred to stay spinach-sized and spinach-tender even when mature (but which is less sensitive to heat than spinach, and won't bolt). It could be that, or some similar cultivar.

Last night was our first "risk of frost" in the forecast (not a frost warning, but still...) so I covered up the more sensitive plants. I have the fixin's to construct better covers for them, and will do over the next week or so, but hadn't had the time to this point. I have two more baby watermelons that just might make it, given a bit of assistance, and maybe a half-dozen cantaloupes. That would be a real triumph, given the circumstances (the loss of my greenhouse, the weird weather, etc). ETA: Everything seems to have come through this first test just fine. The bell peppers are looking slightly unhappy, but I'm sure they'll be fine once the sun hits them.

In her second pregnancy my ex had a sudden fixation with pickles, which ordinarily she didn't much care for. Then, with equal suddenness, she was hit with an obsession over ice cream... plain, inexpensive vanilla ice cream from the supermarket. She oscillated between those two for a month, and then was mortified one day when the penny dropped and she realized that - at least in her case - the old cliche about "pickles and ice cream" actually had some basis in fact. She suffered terribly from nausea during both pregnancies, and in fact hyperemesis during the first pregnancy nearly killed her (she spent a week at the hospital after we finally figured out that she was in real danger).

Clearly you are my brother from another mother. I recently cut myself on sugar, which impressed even my daughter (who's no slouch in the self-injury department herself).

Another brand has been added to the enoki recall. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/super-brand-enoki-mushroom-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

Still more energy drinks are being recalled over "caffeine content and labeling issues." https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/various-brands-caffeinated-energy-drinks-may-be-unsafe-due-caffeine-content-and?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23#wb-auto-47

...and, yet another recall of enoki mushrooms. Only known to affect Ontario as yet, but that could change. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/golden-mushroom-brand-enoki-mushroom-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes-2?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

This one's Ontario-only: Springwater Packers' mild "pepperonistix" are being recalled for potential listeria. From the photo it appears that they're packaged and sold in bulk at various retailers. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/springwater-packers-brand-mild-pepperonistix-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

Not KennethT, but I have the equivalent light in a different brand (Sun Blaster) and it worked well for me in a windowsill scenario to augment the (inadequate) light my plants got there. I also have a few like this one (they're available in a number of brand names; prices vary by $20-$25), which have more umph and can be used anywhere (ie, no window required). The downside is that they consume more power. https://www.amazon.ca/Light-Spectrum-Coverage-Flowers-Growing/dp/B0BN3889GW/ref=sr_1_92?crid=6I78D2XO9WSC&keywords=led+grow+lights+for+indoor+plants&qid=1694609984&sprefix=led+grow+light%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-92

The ones I got from this particular friend were very tart, but not tannic. In my (limited) experience - and I'm sure others can augment this or advise you better - with the really tannic ones, you have to harvest them late in the season after they've had a frost or two. There was a tree near my old apartment that had really tannic apples (like chewing on an old teabag) which magically became sweet and wonderful after a cold snap.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/09/the-physics-of-salt-water-taffy/

A busy harvest day for me today, in witness whereof... From L to R in front we have a late handful of shelling peas (they're almost done); a Sugar Baby watermelon that weighed in at just under 6 lbs; a few florets of broccoli (there's lots more, but this was all I needed for today); a half-dozen zucchini (2 lbs); 3 podgy little cucumbers; and 2 fennel bulbs mostly buried under 2 lbs of bush beans. L to R in back we have 2 lbs of chard, kale and beet tops; and a large quantity of lemon balm bound for the dehydrator. I'm really happy about the watermelon, those have been difficult for me over the years. It looks like I'll get at least 3 or 4 cantaloupes as well, and maybe double that depending how long the weather holds. Then there's this: You'll remember I'd mentioned that the deluge of tomatoes had begun? Well here's 10 pounds of them, mostly cherry and cocktail tomatoes but with some Romas along the back and sides and a couple of Black Krims (they're the ones with the dark shoulders; these ones didn't get enough sun and heat over the past few days to darken them up). Note that a few are underripe and I normally would have left them, but I needed to tie a few heavily-burdened vines back up to their stakes with extra supports and some of these (especially the Romas) fell by the wayside during that process. So I'm eating tomatoes on toast for lunch these days, and made a quick salsa yesterday with tomatoes, green onions, cilantro and jalapenos from the garden. Now that I've restocked on lids and rings, I'll start canning tomatoes in the next day or two. Doubtless we'll make some tomato sauce and cooked salsa for canning as well, but my reasoning is that we can do either of those things just as easily with the canned tomatoes at a less-frantic time of the year.

We were gifted a large quantity of crabapples from a friend's tree (I don't know how large, because we never weighed them, but it was a full Rubbermaid tote). The tally so far is: Crabapples canned in light syrup: 10 pints, 4 quarts Jelly w. Thai chilies: 4 jelly jars Jelly w. warm spices: 6 jelly jars, 1 1/2 pints Plain crabapple jelly: 10 jelly jars, 1 1/2 pints. I also have a pint jar of the frothy foam skimmed off during the cooking process, which I'll eat up over the next month or two on my toast. May post a picture later if I'm not too tired; have some rabbits to harvest tonight so I'll be busy for a while.

Sadly one of my two suitable windows is shaded by the house's back deck; and the other is our cat's favorite nighttime perch (and you know how well that works out for any plants on the windowsill). We do have grow lights, but given the winter power bills at our ramshackle, sprawling house, I'm reluctant to make much use of them. So our winter gardening will likely be restricted to our existing houseplants, which prefer indirect and partial light. Maybe next year I'll have a more permanent greenhouse in place, and can do some winter gardening outside of the house. It could even potentially happen this autumn, but the scope of my "honey-do" list makes it unlikely.

Those crazy-hot Paqui brand tortilla chips featured in the "One Chip Challenge" are being recalled, in the wake of the death of a 14-yo boy who ate one. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/paqui-brand-2023-one-chip-challenge-recalled-due-reported-adverse-reactions?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23 For a backgrounder, and an explanation of the suspected/unexpected side effects of Carolina Reaper consumption, you can refer to this article: https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/09/teens-death-after-eating-a-single-chip-highlights-risks-of-ultra-spicy-foods/ ETA: To be clear, a causal link hasn't yet been established between the teen eating the chip and his death, but the other incidents cited in the second link validate the potential concern.