Mouse Melon

Whats this? A watermelon the size of a grape? A giant holding a full size watermelon? A delicious addition to your edible backyard? I will go with the latter.

Do you want a conversation starter for next years garden? Well I recommend growing this amazing little vegetable / fruit called a Mouse Melon (Melothria scabra). In Mexico it is called "sandia ratón" literally "mouse watermelon". It is also known as Mexican sour gherkin, cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, and Mexican sour cucumber. This annual vine produces hundreds of little fruits the size of grapes.

It is native to Mexico and Central America where it is thought to have been in cultivation before western contact. It belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. The fruit tastes like a lemony cucumber, which is interesting because cucumbers are thought to have originated in India. Most of the Curcurbit family species in the Americas are pumpkins, squash and gourds. Watermelon and melons come from Africa if you want to bring most of the Curcurbit family full circle.

I heard about this awesome little plant on a podcast I listen to. We had a seed swap dinner party a while ago and this was one of the plants we got seed for. You can eat them raw in salads or you can pickle them with your favorite pickle recipe. We are going to play around with cooking them and see what happens. There are not a lot of recipes available for these, so hopefully we can find a new way to eat them. Here is a seed source, I highly recommend growing these in your garden next year.

Blunt Mountain Mint

Let me tell you about an amazing plant I've had growing for a couple years. I learned a lot about this plant in my research for this post. So what is it? It is called Blunt Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), also known as Short Toothed Mountain Mint, Clustered Mountain Mint and Big Leaf Mountain Mint. While Mountain Mint is in the Lamiaceae family with other mints like spearmint and peppermint, it is not a true mint. You wouldn't think that if you crushed some and smelled it though. This native hardy perennial deserves a spot in your garden.

Lets break down its Latin / Greek name. Pycnanthemum is Greek for "dense flower", pyknos = dense and anthos = flower. Muticum is Latin for blunt, referring to the flat leaves at the end of the stems. It was given this name by the French Botanist Andre Michaux when he "discovered" the plant in Pennsylvania in 1790. He named it this because of its tiny densely clustered flower heads. Mine is still flowering a bit, you can see the tiny pinkish flowers on the edges of the heads. Every bump you see on the head had a flower on it recently. 

Insects are drawn to this plant in amazing quantities and diversity. Bees absolutely love it, so do butterflies, wasps, moths and flies. Predators like to hang out on it to ambush nectar enamored insects. The dried heads last through the winter and provide habitat for insects. So make sure you leave them up through the winter.

The leaves contain an organic compound called pulegone, the same chemical in pennyroyal that is used as an insect repellant. For all my chemically inclined readers here is a pretty picture.

You can pick some leaves and rub them on exposed skin to keep those pesky mosquito's at bay. Some people have a reaction to this so test a small area of skin before you go all out. The toxicology for humans seems to be largely not researched. A study in rats has shown the chemical pulegone to be toxic in large quantities. Personally I chew a leaf every time I walk by it. So far so good. Do your own research if you are worried about toxicity. Here is an article on the toxicity and myths of pennyroyal, which has higher levels of pulegone than Blunt Mountain Mint. At any rate you would have to eat a lot of this plant to get a large dose of pulegone. Just to be safe, I will state; you should not use this plant if you are pregnant. I encourage you to read the article on toxicity and myths above.

Here is an experiment I hope to perform soon. I will take three crushed leaves of blunt mountain mint and drop them in a glass cylinder filled with frozen water molecules (ice). To this I will add one part ethanol (sky vodka should do the trick) to two parts quinine laced carbonated water (Canada dry will work nicely) and stir. This experiment may need to be repeated several times before I can give any conclusive data.

How would you like to find a use for those old unmatched socks hanging around? Take said sock, put some leaves and flower heads in it and tie the end off. Throw this is your dryer for a fresh minty scent. You can also take some leaves and flower heads and put them in a cheesecloth bag. Tie off the cheesecloth and let this soak in a hot bath. You can use the plant for making potpourri or just place some leaves in your dresser drawers to keep insects away and freshen them up.

I highly recommend growing this plant if you want to bring in pollinators, especially if you keep bees on your property.

Flowers From Around The Garden

I was walking around the garden yesterday and was surprised by the amount of flowers still in bloom. Having a large variety of plants flowering in your garden is beneficial in many ways. First is beauty, I will step out of my power tool infested man-cave and say, flowers make me happy, plain and simple. Secondly, flowers of different colors, shapes, and sizes bring all kinds of beneficial insects to your garden. Some of these insects are predators that help control insect pests, and some are pollinators that will help pollinate your food crops while they are in the area. Last but not least, many flowers have medicinal properties or are edible, or both. Here are some pics I took yesterday.

This is one of our favorite flowers in the garden. Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) is native to Mexico. The flowers attract birds and butterflies, and bees love them.

We bought a perennial flower seed mix that had dozens of different flowers in it. I am not sure what this is but it is a beautiful flower.

Same thing here, some kind of perennial flower. In the spring I plan on filling the beds along the back of the property with this mix.

Marigolds are very beneficial. They are said to deter some insect pests and bring in beneficial insects. This is a french marigold (Tagetes patula), it is not edible, just beneficial. Some people confuse the inedible french marigold with the edible, sort of look a like, Calendula (Calendula officinalis).

This is Borage (Borago officinalis), which is very edible and delicious. The flowers continuously bloom all through the season. Bees love these flowers and they make a nice addition to a salad.

 

The first Jerusalem Artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) are blooming. I took this picture with the camera extended as high as I could above my head and the flower was still a few feet away. Right now these plants are around 10-12 feet tall. I did a detailed post on Jerusalem Artichokes here if you are interested.

Not sure what this plant is. I was about to cut them all down when I noticed it was about to bloom. I am going to leave one and take the rest out. It has a very woody stalk that leads me to believe it might be a perennial. We will see if it comes back in the spring.

This is a perennial I bought in a big box store clearance sale. Not sure what it is, but it comes back every year and the bees like it.

Same here, this is a perennial from a clearance sale. I have a hard time passing up .50 cent flowering perennials.

My addiction strikes again. I often think about getting a part time job at my local big box store just so I can get first dibs on the clearance plants!

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a very valuable plant in the garden. It is a good companion plant, a medicinal and edible. It attracts predatory wasps, ladybugs and hover flies; all very beneficial to have around. It is said to improve the health of sick plants it is near to. Yarrow has been used for centuries as a pain reliever, an astringent, an anti-inflammatory,  a diaphoretic and it was used in ancient times to stanch blood flow in wounds. In those days it was called herbal militaris.

You look away for one minute...

Dara and I drove out to Rhode Island over the Labor day weekend. My family gets together and has a traditional clambake each year. This year we did not have a bake, but we still got together for a grill out. We had a lot of fun seeing the family and catching up with everyone. Next year I will document the bake and do a blog post about it. The whole process is fascinating and I am glad it is a tradition in my family. 






These are not cucumbers. Before we left for Rhode Island I checked our zucchini and saw a few tiny zucchinis with the flowers still on them. It is amazing how fast these guys can grow. That is a normal size spoon. We are making a Paleo zucchini lasagna with them. When they get this big we have also shredded them to make a Paleo meatloaf. You could make zucchini bread as well, or something I used to do as a kid, make a sail boat out of them.

Lettuce Success and Other Ramblings

Our lettuce experiment turned out to be a success. I was told by multiple people on gardening forums that you cannot grow non-bitter lettuce in the heat of the summer, even in the shade. I will concede the fact that this summer has been pretty mild as far as high temps are concerned, we will see what September brings. I have never been able to grow non-bitter lettuce in August before, but this shade grown lettuce is delicious!

The trick is to keep it watered and keep it out of direct sunlight. This area gets dappled sunlight in the morning and at the end of the day. Most of the day these beds lay under the shady protection of two massive oak trees. You have to harvest the lettuce very young so it doesn't go bitter.

 

We selected heat tolerant varieties for this experiment. Lettuce seed is so cheap you can sprinkle a handful of seed every time you harvest your lettuce. I want to put in more lettuce beds on the deck. At our consumption rates, these beds only supply about two salads each a week.

I have seen many of these spiders around this year, way more than I have seen since we bought the house around three years ago. I guess it is my fault for playing Barry White albums on repeat in the garage. This scary looking spider is in the orb-weaver family (Araneidae) and is called the Spined Micrathena (Micrathena gracilis). It is also known as the "CD spider" due to its habit of building webs that look like CD's hanging from trees in the woods. Despite its menacing appearance, it is completely harmless to humans. 

This species is called the "Eastern Needy Tomato Gobbler" (daralis complainiface). This garden pest will consume every ripe tomato in the garden if you do not take adequate steps to remove it. The most effective methods I have found are luring it away with dark chocolate or telling it there is a buy one get one free sale at Earth Fare. If the tomato gobbler ever feels threatened, it will sit down on the ground and cry. Be careful when approaching this creature, its bite has been known to hurt a little bit and it will try to get you to take it out for ice cream.

A Very Addictive Yard Game

 Here is a DIY, fun backyard game that is easy to make and a lot of fun. Drunk people friendly!

 

One of my co-workers told me about a yard game she and her husband recently made. I thought, man that sounds cool. A few internet searches later and I was at the big box store.

The material list is pretty small and it should only take you a day to make it. If you have a power sander it would only take a couple of hours. Here is what you will need.

8 - 2x4x8's Make sure they are as straight as you can get. I had to pass up the cheap ones.

1 - Pack of 120 grit sandpaper. We used 8 sheets. If you have a power sander use it!

I had some scrap 2x4's and plywood laying around so I made a base for the game. You could use pretty much anything that is flat to play on.

 

Edit:

After getting my ass handed to me on reddit, I suggest you use a miter saw to do this work. Table saws are very dangerous and I have been very lucky over the years.

You could set up a system using a stop so you would not have to mark and measure each board. Hindsight 20/20 and all that jazz, this is what I did. Starting from one end, measure and mark a line at 10.5 inches. Continue marking the board every 10.5 inches. You should get 9 pieces 10.5 inches long out of every board. 

 You should start to accumulate a pile like this. I am glad I choose the more expensive wood. These blocks have a nice red color you do not get with the cheap 2x4's. The hardest part is sanding the edges. You need to make sure every edge has been taken down a little so the blocks will move freely.

You can see my advanced sandpaper technique in the top of this image. I wrap a piece of sand paper around a scrap piece of wood and start sanding. I had four people help me sand these, and it still took many hours. I plan on making and selling these soon, after I invest in a power sander. =)

I had some scrap lumber laying around so I made a heavy duty base for the game. It is important that wherever you play the game, it has a flat level surface.

It is nothing fancy just some 2x4's and some scrap plywood. I made it 21 inches square. I used a can of old spray paint, and it turned out pretty nice.

Here is the end product with a wine glass for scale. A full size, backyard Jenga-like game. This was definitely the hit of the party. I had corn-hole, ladder-ball and a pool table, but this game got the most use.

If you want one, and don't feel like making it yourself, send me a message. I am taking orders. This would be for local pick-up only, it would cost way to much to ship this anywhere. If you are in the South-West Ohio, Cincinnati / Dayton area, let me know if you want one. 

Let Us Experiment

 This is a story of finding uses for unwanted items or "trash". My future Grandfather-in-law's neighbor gets large wooden boxes used to ship equipment. I saw one in his driveway on a visit and commented on how I thought they were cool and useful. So unknown to me, Dara's Grandfather Ron asked his neighbor what he did with them. Apparently he just gets rid of them, so Ron asked him to save them for me. I have picked up three so far and more are to come.

 

 I drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of two of the boxes to use as planters.I am not sure what was shipped in these containers but the wood is not pressure treated and they are well built. I may make one into a sandbox for my nephew.

I laid a layer of newspaper down to keep the soil from clogging up the holes I drilled. I made a mixture of composted manure and peat moss. Normally I put sand in my soil mixes but I don't want sand on what I am growing. I filled the boxes with about two inches of soil.

Dara picked a mix of lettuce seed that does well in the summer heat and mixed them up together. We always have trouble growing lettuce in the main garden. It always gets bitter and goes to bolt too fast. I wanted to see how it does on our deck under our large oak trees. It will get some sun, but mostly it will be in shade and dappled light.

Dara sprinkle the two boxes with the lettuce seed. I put a thin layer of soil on after that and watered it in really good. We plan on eating the lettuce when it is really young so it doesn't have a chance to get bitter in the heat. As soon as we harvest a part of a box we will replant it.

Spring mix is so expensive and lettuce seed is so cheap, we need to find a way to grow our own that is not bitter. We eat a lot of salads so, I hope the lettuce does well in this location. If this doesn't work out, at least the beds will be ready to plant in the fall. I will be able to put some plastic over these to extend the growing season into the winter.

Another use for the boxes. Turned upside down, this box is the perfect size to hold our canoe off the ground. I am sure I will find more uses for these as I get more. I may do an outdoor worm bin that I can harvest in the fall before the freeze comes.