The melon clock is ticking

Prairie Cat - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

With only 6 weeks left before the arrival of our first average frost date, new watermelons are forming on the vines growing in the 18 gallon swc by Jude's pen. It looks like there's fruitset of at least 4, and we'll just have to wait and see if they amount to anything. If nothing more, at least Jude will have something new to play with. Any melons that don't amount to much are given to her, and she usually eats them. Hehe....Anyway, the one in the picture below is the largest of the 4, and has been slung already.

Photo below - this little stinker has grown quite a bit since the picture was taken, and is now resting on the ground. Both are Congo watermelons, and i've yet to get a decent fruit from them this year. As you might guess, not much foliage has been present on the vines throughout the season, but now there's an adequate amount.....

Photo below - Now, i'd like to address the problem of telling when a watermelon is ready to pick for anyone that might be struggling with the idea. This, of course is the 11.5 lb. melon that was harvested the other day, and I took some pretty good pictures of it that will hopefully be helpful.

Photo below - when the tendril located closest to the fruit has completely turned brown, it's supposed to be ready. The tendril is indicated by the rather crude red circle drawn in the picture by myself. Yeah, I know.....i'm not much of a photo editor.

Anyway, I always wait between 1 and 2 weeks later before picking my melons, because previous experience has shown me that the "tendril method" isn't always perfect. However, if left too long on the vine, the heart (center of the fruit) will become mealy or grainy.....
Even though the current growing season is still going, I can't help but wish that next spring would hurry up and get here. The reason is that alot has been learned this season, and I know the next opportunity will be much more rewarding. 2010 was the year of the tomato in my garden, but 2011 will be all about melons - and several different varieties, too. I can already predict honeydew, cantaloupe, sugar bowl, congo, mountain hoosier, and sugar baby will be grown, and most against the 24 foot long trellis at the end of the yard. Yep, it's gonna be an interesting year!

Being a square foot gardener, I have always used the melon spacings recommended by the sfg method - but there's just one drawback.....even though there's enough soil to plant 2 watermelon vines (evenly spaced) side by side in a 4 foot wide bed with a trellis, there's not enough trellis area to accomodate the foliage required to get decent-sized fruit. That's why next year - only 1 will be planted against a trellis in the main raised bed. Sugar baby will most likely be grown there, and the larger ones against the 24 foot trellis....

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Harvest Monday - August 30th

Each week, Daphne hosts Harvest Monday, in which all garden bloggers are encouraged to share their harvests from the previous week, and you should join in on the fun too!

It appears that last week was the week of the muscadine grapes, because a gallon of them was picked every evening after work (other than Tuesday, because I had to work 16 hours due to a major breakdown on a vital piece of equipment), and now i'm begging relatives to pick the rest. Around 4 gallons have been frozen, and will likely be juiced over the labor day weekend for later use. The ones that appear to be a tad bit green are left to ripen in the buckets, and usually become ready for freezing after a day or two. Anyway, here's most of the harvest from the week.....

Photo below - these four little melons came from the vines growing in swc's next to the sweet potatoes. The aggressive foliage of the sweet potatoes quickly took over the watermelon vines, and basically choked them out for sun exposure. Needless to say, these little melons never had a chance....

Photo below - This is the melon that fell from the trellis a while back, and weighed in at 11.5 lbs. It wasn't as good as the larger one picked a couple of weeks ago, but was certainly welcomed.

As you can see, tomatoes and cucumbers continue to come in, but the quality is pretty poor. It's almost time to start yanking almost all plants, but I figure they've still got a week or two left. Almost everything harvested has been given to family and friends, because we're really tired of it - especially tomatoes and cucumbers.
Due to disease and insects, the tomatoes are being picked while still green now, and will be left to ripen in the house.

Now, I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight a new blog i'm following. A very young  gardener named  Cloud from Massachusetts has just started blogging, and I expect that big things will come from her and her garden. It's so inspiring to see such a young person get into gardening, and I hope that some of my readers will pay her a visit sometime.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

3 more videos of the garden

This will be all for a while, I promise!

The compost on August 21st

Here's a video I did about the current state of the composting system, and of course Jude has a cameo appearance, as well. Hehe....

A video about filling a swc with soil

I shot this video the other day for my BIL Lin in Kentucky, and thought you might enjoy seeing it as well. Although it doesn't cover everything you need to know, i'll likely do a complete fill video in the early spring of next year. Anyway, here's the link to it - enjoy!

Harvest Monday - August 23rd 2010

It's harvest monday again, and make sure you visit Daphne's Blog to share a link to your harvest post, as well as see what everyone else has for the week!

This week's harvest has some new things to show - as the first butternut squash reached maturity, and also the muscadine grapes are starting to come in. The tomatoes are looking pretty bad these days, and clearly show signs of disease, though.

Several videos will be posted this week, and I hope you like them. In one, I address the reason that some of my melons were much larger than others - which of course, was inspired by my good friend Daphne.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

A few things that are new in the garden

Seedlings of expression and Annelie - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Lord knows that plenty of tomato pictures have been displayed on the blog this year, but the two in this post are actually quite special - well to me at least...You'll understand my excitement after reading. In this first photo is a Brandywine tomato which is being grown in a 3.5 gallon swp, and came from a sucker that was rooted from the large plants in the big box. The fact that a decent sized tomato came from a plant growing in such a small swp makes me quite happy, and the plant itself is growing like crazy....

Photo below - while checking on the sweet potato plantings the other day, I noticed a tuber protruding from the soil. That's always a good sign, and expect that several more are beneath the surface. Sweet potatoes are quickly becoming one of my favorite things to grow, especially since I seem to do well with them.....

Photo below - here's the remaining watermelon that is supported with knee highs. After removing this one from the vine, the cleanup in this area will begin. I continue to learn about melon growing, and have a feeling that next year's results will be the best so far.

Photo below - the one that fell from the trellis a while back continues to get larger, and should be ready in about 3 more weeks. It's growing on the same vine that produced the even bigger one from 2 weeks ago, and needless to say - there is something special about this particular vine. The best part, is that I know what it is, and will try my best to duplicate it in future plantings. Woo Doggie!!!

And lastly, here's the first Kellogg's Breakfast tomato of the year! I just hope the stinkin' squirrels don't get it. It's located in the area where the squirrels have hit the hardest, and i'm planning on growing corn here next year. Hopefully the trap that's being constructed will turn out well, because they like corn too.....

In other news, more leaves have been added to the compost bin that's got a batch cooking in it right now, and it looks like at least 1 more bag of grass clippings will be needed to heat things back up again. The other 2 bins are completely finished now, and will likely be covered with plastic until next spring.
I'll likely go ahead and accumulate several bags of curbside leaves this fall, and do some no-turn composting in the remaining 3 bins. Afterall, I've got enough finished compost to last for 2-3 years, and can let them just sit for that amount of time. Yep, my composting situation is gonna be smooth sailing from here on out...Hehe.

Also, the melon vines growing in the 18 gallon swc by Jude's pen have new life! New growth began to appear about 3 weeks ago, and now has a small melon on it. With about 7-8 weeks left before the first frost arrives, there just might be enough time for it to reach maturity. We'll certainly give it a shot!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Arrival of the Melon Worm

Cloud and David - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Two of the most destructive pests to cucurbits in my garden are the Melon Worm, and also Pickle Worm. Although the pickle worm hasn't been spotted yet, the melon worm showed up in a big way, by ruining one of my developing butternut squash. The goo hanging from the fruit clearly shows that the damage is severe. I guess the fruit itself can be sprayed with an aggressive pesticide to keep this from happening, but it just hadn't entered my mind - until now, that is. I chalk this one up to "live and learn."

Photo below - these are the entrance holes, and the melon worm was found in the one on the left. For reference, a melon worm will be green, and pickle worm kinda clear with little black dots down its body. Both can literally ruin a fruit overnight.

Photo below - while out there taking pictures, I spotted a striped cucumber beetle on some of the cucumber foliage. These things are all over the place right now, and i've been squishing the life out of them when noticed. As soon as it quits raining, i'll take care of these little dudes for good....

....and also a spotted cucumber beetle. Although quite beautiful, both varieties spread disease like the plague. Watch out, Jude! There's a giant cucumber beetle about to jump on your head!!! Just kidding...hehe..

Although a few quality fruit are being harvested from the cucumber plantings, i've decided to go ahead and use an aggressive pesticide on them - then pull the vines in the 34 gallon swc. Doing so will reduce the number of pests that overwinter in the ground, as I wouldn't want them to be this big of a problem next year. To help my bee friends out, all blooms will be pulled before the rather potent mixture of pesticide is sprayed. My choice of pesticide? Spectracide - with Triazycide. Oh...it works much better than Sevin - in my opinion. I mix it double-strength, and there's undeniable carnage littered throughout the garden the next day.....Yep!

However, daily showers are keeping me from spraying for the beetles, and also BT on the tomatoes too. I'm sure there are lots of caterpillars on the tomato plants right now, but don't want to spray everything for nothing. I hate it when it's like this. I'm sure blossom end rot will be abundant in upcoming weeks, too. Sigh. There's been a shower every night for almost a week. However, the rainbarrels are finally full again....

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Harvest Monday - August 16th, 2010

Tosha - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

It was a big week for harvests around here, but I assure you that future harvests won't even be the slightest bit comparable to this one. The reason, is of course due to the heat and bugs, and at least half of the the plants in the garden will be removed over the next week or so...Anyway, here's my harvest for the week.

The beans have been doing absolutely nothing lately, and i'll likely cut all of the vines where they protrude from the ground this week. I always like to let them completely dry onto the trellises, because it makes for easy removal during the winter.
The cucumbers are being damaged by melon worms and pickle worms, so i'll go ahead and get rid of them too. It's just a bad time for the garden right now, and the end is drawing near.
On a positive note, we've had a couple of good rain showers in the last few days that have almost filled the rain barrels up again. Some is being caught in buckets too, just to take full advantage of the rainfall.

The frame for the squirrel trap was constructed over the weekend, and all kinds of possibilities have surfaced for creating a door and trigger mechanism. I can already think of at least 3 different designs, but will try to decide which is best over the next few days.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

I feel the need to build something

Susan, random gardener, and Ben - welcome, and thanks for following the blog!

Gosh, it's been a while since I constructed something, but that's probably about to change.....As cooler weather approaches, there's already 3 projects that have come to mind. Of course the wheelchair access ramp for my parents will be started probably around the first of November, which means there's time to construct a couple of small items between now and then - I figure. One thing that would be helpful to my gardening experience would be a homemade squirrel trap, especially since the shotgun approach isn't eliminating them as well as i'd like. (I'm not the best shot in the world) Yeah, I pretty much suck at hunting......
Anyway, several versions of homemade squirrel traps are on the internet - of which probably work very well, i'm sure. However, I like to take useless items around the property and recycle them into things that are useful, so my squirrel trap will be one of a kind.

Here's a couple of possibilities - a broken fold-up chair, and the scrap wood pile out by the composting system.....One made from a couple of  5 gallon buckets is also a possiblity, but I just haven't made my mind up yet.

The chair has some really good aluminum tubing in it, which would be really strong and lightweight, too. But fastening some wire mesh to it would be a real pain. One made from wood is most likely what'll take place - especially since there's an abundance of it laying around. Still, the chair was completely stripped down for easier storage, and will definitely be used for something in the near future....
Anyway, i'm gonna try to make a pretty unique squirrel trap, and hope you like the end results...
This of course, will be a live trap that doesn't harm the squirrel, especially since other small animals could get into it...

Take care, and happy building!

EG

A drought period for the area

Elderberrywine4u - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

It's never good to hear that a drought is expected for your area, but that's exactly what I was told yesterday. It hasn't rained here in over a week, and the surplus in the rainbarrels has just been depleted over the weekend. Gosh, it looks like i'll have to use municipal water on the garden for the first time this year, and it's gonna be a pain in the butt. The spigot at my house is about 150 feet away from the closest point in the garden, and i'll resort to hauling buckets of water out to it. That means about 10 trips to do it all, and the swc's are the most demanding, of course...

Anyway, I wanted to give you an update on the butternut squash planted next to the woods - of which 2 fruit have formed thus far. The one on the right is probably gonna require a sling to keep the weight from putting too much pressure on the vine (especially since the wire mesh could sever the stem), but a well placed knee high will keep that from happening...

Since the squash in the main garden were pulled last week, the squashbugs have decided to relocate to this butternut planting. I found 4 clusters of eggs and 2 adults yesterday, and will keep monitoring the plants every couple of days - especially since I found a third fruit forming.

In other news, I learned something the other day. The pear trees provided enough fruit to make preserves with, so I decided to make it on Sunday evening. Well, a person should never try this while watching True Blood , because you'll end up making pear caramel instead. OOPS! Yeah, I completely blew it on this batch...hehe...Hey, the last 15 minutes of the episode were pretty intense!
I took a large bag of cucumbers and tomatoes to my neighbors down the street the other day, and they sure were appreciative of it. I need to do stuff like that more often, because there's no way that we can use it all. Chalk it up as my good deed for the day, I suppose.

I also spotted one of my furry friends about 60 feet up in a tree on Saturday morning - then BOOM! Hehe....it was toast....Now, only 4 more to go (that I know of). Yeah....i'm a muderer...

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Harvest Monday, August 9th 2010

Harvest Mondays are all about showing the gardening community what all came from your backyard garden from the previous week, and we all join in at Daphne's Blog to make this a harvesting extravaganza! Got something to share? Just join in, and leave a link over at her site....

For this week, we have pretty much the same old things as shown of late, and the produce is really beginning to pile up on the kitchen counter! The single green bean is one that was found the day after the rest were picked. It's really difficult to find them all....

Photo below - here's the largest watermelon of the year so far, which was slung with a couple of knee highs of course. Weighing in at exactly 19 lbs., this sugar bowl hybrid watermelon sure did test the integrity of dollar store knee highs - that's for sure! It ended up being slightly larger than a basketball, and didn't appear to be all that big when it was hanging amongst the foliage. The little congo watermelon beside it didn't amount to much, but didn't taste half bad!

In other news, it's gonna be hot again this week, and continues to be one of the worst summers that I can remember. Although it would mean no more gardening for the year, I can't help but think that I can't wait until cool weather arrives. This summer garden has been quite challenging for me, and i've worked hard in it...
The brandywine tomatoes being picked right now are some of the largest of the year, and it's incredible how many have came from just 2 plants. This is one tomato that will have a permanent home in my garden for years to come.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The heat is taking its toll

Most people's gardens have already perished for the year in these parts, and can easily be seen by anyone driving down the road. Red tomatoes amidst a few twigs that were once vines is commonplace, and weeds have established their dominance in the landscape once again. It's a shame that most backyard gardeners only get about 2-3 months to grow their favorite warm weather veggies before the plants die, because they sure are missing out on alot of gardening opportunity...
Shoot.....we can grow tomatoes from April 15th to October 15th, and I take full advantage of it. Although they aren't doing a whole lot right now, the last 6 weeks before frost should really pick up again...

Anyway, I wanted to show you some current garden photos. Although not as pretty as earlier in the year - at least there's still alot of green foliage out there. Due to the excessive heat of late, it's as good as can be expected.

Photo below - man, just look at the foliage from the sweet potatoes....it's going crazy, and should provide a good source of nitrogen for the compost pile later. At least 30 lbs. of harvest would be great from these 4 containers this year, and we'll just have to wait until the last 2 weeks of September to find out how they did.

Photo below - here's the 4x8 bed with Cherokee Purple tomatoes growing in it. Some of the foliage is turning brown, but still continues to set fruit. Due to the small sized fruit of late, another side-dressing of fertilizer will take place this weekend. That should be the last one for the year, which should get them to maturity.

Photo below - the cucumbers growing in the 34 gallon swc are beginning to experience some serious foliage problems now. This is due to the heat, cucumber beetles, and powdery mildew that shows up during this time of year. No biggie....we've been giving cucumbers away for a month now, and certainly don't need anymore. Besides, there are still 8 more plantings on the property, which continue to yield also.

Photo below - the foliage is diminishing rather quickly on the tomato plant to the right, but thankfully is yielding some really big tomatoes right now. This is the planting that has been hit hardest by my little bushy-tailed nemesis that continues to elude a quick death by way of shotgun.....Oh...i'll get it - you watch and see.

In other news, the swc's on the property are drinking water like crazy, and even the 18 gallon one by Jude's pen is putting on a new round of fresh growth. Although no melons are left on the vines, there's still enough time left in the season for some to form and reach maturity.
The broccoli and cauliflower that was sowed a week ago in small pots have germinated already, and will get some controlled sunshine over the next 6-7 weeks. They'll be grown in swp's this fall, and hopefully will perform as good as last years' crop. Going with "Green Goliath" broccoli this time will surely produce larger heads than the "De Cicco" of last time. We'll find out!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Definitely not your average dog

It's a well known fact that my dog Jude is a real stinker most of the time. When she's not terrorizing the local chipmunk population, or snatching leaves from my plants in the garden (especially beans), she's all about playing. Whether it's a stick, limb, or even a small tree that is dragged from the woods for chewing on, you can bet that before any mowing takes place, the entire yard must be thoroughly swept for debris. In the photo below, she has a pretty healthy sized limb that was dragged from the woods. I've thrown it back countless of times, but it always finds the way back....

Photo below - Oh, let me show you a new watermelon that's growing nicely. Before I had a chance to sling it while it was small, a big wind blew the section of vine off of the trellis, and here it rests. Once that happens, it's best to just leave it as is - because the vine can be easily damaged by wrestling with it. I anticipate this one to grow to a really nice size, especially since the bigger melon was picked the other day. (I'll show ya a pic of it on Monday)

Photo below - speaking of watermelon, here's the "Grand poobah of all buttheads" scarfing down a storebought watermelon that had to be thrown out. Yeah, definitely not your average dog, and she ate the whole dadgum thing! Hehe...

In other news, I have a head cold....It sucks to have a cold in the summertime, and I really don't feel like doing anything at all. However, Jude still requires a few hours of playtime each day, and i'll certainly continue to let her have it - cold or not. It's the least I can do since she's cooped up in her pen all day while i'm at work.
Well, that's about it for now....

Take care

EG