It’s heavy duty harvest time.  There’s a constant to-do of picking, packing, and preserving.  It’s intense and hot and beautiful.  But right now, I’m loving these.  They look like little baby watermelons….

Mexican Sour Gherkins, melothria scabra, technically speaking.  They are a relative to cucumbers, but not close enough to create an issue in our seed saving schemes.  We picked them from a seed catalog on a bit of a whim, with the kids of course.  We only have three plants, but they have covered a tomato cage, in the midst of a row of tomatillos and cherry tomatoes.  And they have borne fruit in abundance, none of it larger than the end of my thumb!

I wouldn’t grow these sweet little things for market, but for summer family snack-time – they’re a winner.

The fruit is crunchy, cucumber-y, and yes, when fully ripe, a tiny bit sour.  In the morning, before the sun begins to roast the garden, it is a great pleasure to make this tiny harvest.  If Levon doesn’t eat them all, I may make a jar of pickles from them yet!