Watermelon

We have some watermelons in the garden, and have picked a couple already. They were small, but very tasty.
Today I decided to take my Gravely out back and mow along the fence row since the 4th is coming up and they do shoot off fireworks in the area.

As I get around to the back part of the fence where the garden is (inside the fence) I see I have quite a few melon vines that have grown through the fence and have sort of vanished into the high weeds. So I figure there is no way to try to separate the stuff so I just plow right into the weeds, back up and take another pass right up against the fence. Suddenly this melon rolls up on top of the deck much to my surprise. Sure am glad I had the deck down and not tilted back or that melon would have just vanished in a spray of red juice.
The stem was still green so it may not be quite ripe yet, but since it rolled it broke off the stem so I brought it in when I got done mowing. This is the biggest one so far this year, and what an odd way to find it. Put it on my postal scale, 19 pounds even. Set it in the wifes lap and took a quick picture (which didn't make her very happy). Reminds me of how she looked just prior to childbirth back in 84 and 89.
I sure am glad she doesn't look at this site!

Well, at least you got some melons! It's so dry here that even the weeds are having to struggle. It's so dry here that the other day I saw a tree following a dog! But ain't it amazing how fast weeds and grass can take over a garden?

It has been so hot and dry here( 106* today, no rain since Nov.) that I can't put enough water on my garden for stuff to grow. Melons in the ground for 2 months and not even vineing yet. Green chile plants not a foot tall. Squash doing badly. Etc,etc. Only things doing good are onions and corn.

I made the mistake last year of letting the weeds and crabgrass get away from me. This spring has been pulling crabgrass every day. Some was so thick I gave up on my beets and rototilled them under. If I had to work, I wouldn't be able to keep up. My garden is the cleanest it has ever been.

Larry

I love watermellons but a couple of months ago diagnosed with diabetes, so on my list of stuff that I can't eat watermellon is second behind pineapple, ahead of grapes. I love all three. I think they say that I can eat an orange a day, although I was eating four with breakfast, a couple at lunch, a couple for dessart. Moderation they say. A cup of strawberries, cherries, blue, black, or rasberries a day now. Aint like the old days a couple of months ago when I ate a whole watermellon by myself over a couple of days starting with dessart on Easter Sunday. No more Gatorade. Moderation, moderation, moderation they say. Well, at least my blood sugar went from 400 - 500 down to 77 - 130, with 70 - 110 beng correct. And now I can see again too. For a few weeks everything was blurry from one inch away to a football field away. A person standing three feet away was blurry and it all came on over a couple of weeks. Now I'm typing this at two feet away, clear as day, no cheater reading glasses even. Diabetes causes the eyes to swell, and thats when vision gets whacked bigtime too. All is much, much better, and I'm not drinking 5 or 10 gallons of water a day either. Another thing, when I stubb my toe it hurts great and am I ever glad of that!!! They say diabetes causes blood flow problems in the extremeties, starting with the toes. When they start going numb, and I have no plans of that, then bad bad bad things follow, sometimes with the doctor earning his nickname of "sawbones". I want no part of that.

I love watermellon, but right now its just one of the things that don't love me back. Maybe one day again, with exercise and in moderation...

Your mellon looks great from here though.

Mark