Watch My Food Grow ~ A South Florida Raised Vegetable Garden

An Afterthought

Back in April, after all the rest of the garden had been planted, neighbor, Jacqie (my partner in gardening) planted one more section. On a whim, he bought three kinds of watermelon and one cantaloupe plant and put them directly into bags of garden soil.

Melons Planted in Bagged Soil

Ground Cover

The place where the melons were planted is full of gravel, weeds and grass. To give the melons a better change of surviving the landscape… and the lawnmower, we covered the ground with a layer of burlap.

Burlap and Fencing For Melons

A roll of inexpensive, foot-high wire fencing served as a way to tack down the burlap. It also helped us contain the vines. As they got closer to the edges, we aimed the leading stems away from the fencing.

Rough Weather

During May, we had so much rain… 14 inches in four days, 4.5 inches in one day and hard rain every day for three weeks. The excessive rain caused any number of plant issues, and the melons were no exception.

Rotted Watermelon

Smaller melons turned black and shriveled up from the rain.

Split Watermelon

The too wet conditions caused the larger melons to split on the vine.

Hardy Cantaloupes

The watermelons were limping along, but the cantaloupes did fairly well. Jacqie was able to pick the first ripe cantaloupe this week. It was small… about four inches in diameter.

First Cantaloupe

It may have been small, but it was pretty to look at and smelled great!

Cantaloupe from the Garden

Cantaloupe for Brunch

We picked a second cantaloupe today. It was a little larger… about six inches.

Cantaloupe from the Garden

We learn something from everything we plant even if it does not do well. We may not try watermelons again, but cantaloupes are on the planting list for the fall.

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