I Bid Farewell To Summer Produce A Little Early This Year

Our kids eat a lot of produce. We include it in their meals and give it to them for snacks throughout the day. Raw. Steamed. Roasted. They love it. Of course, they have their favorites. Raw carrots are at the top of the list along with watermelon, green beans, apples, cantaloupe, and sweet potatoes.

Last week, we bought a watermelon. It's one of our favorite Summertime fruits. Usually, during the Summer months, we'll go through 2 small or 1 large watermelon a week. This Summer, I can count on one hand how many watermelons we've purchased.

The ones we've bought were not crisp, sweet and juicy. They've been a bit soggy and yucky. We ended up throwing most of them away.

The one we bought last week was absolutely delicious.  One of the best we've ever had. And, it was huge. We cut half of it up to bring to our last Dip and Dinner last week. On Saturday, we sliced the rest of it up to share during our backyard neighborhood family fire.

Before we went to bed, Lisa asked me if I wanted another watermelon.

I told her no.

She looked at me as if I had 3 heads.

"Why don't you want another one? I know how much you and the kids have missed watermelon this Summer..."

I exhaled slowly.

Oh, how do I explain this without sounding batshit crazy?

"The watermelon and corn have sucked this Summer. It's September. I'm going to dedicate this last watermelon as the official farewell to Summer. We enjoyed the watermelon. The kids enjoyed it. We shared a lot of it. I'm good with that. It's time to buy fresh apples, butternut squash, and pumpkins."

Lisa understood.

This Summer was weird. Too humid. Too many heatwaves. Not enough rain. An abundance of bugs. The wildlife munching on the fresh produce to keep hydrated.

The bottom half of our freezer is usually filled with bags of chopped zucchini and squash, corn taken off the cob, and tomatoes.

Not this year. 

As of now, we have 5 single quart bags filled. Two of those are chopped tomatoes. One diced zucchini. One shredded zucchini. One diced yellow squash.

That's it. 

That's why I don't want another watermelon.

That's why the watermelon Lisa bought last week is my tribute to the final transition from Summer produce to Fall produce.

That transition came a little early this year.

But, I'm okay with that.