Green shield bug and a melon update

Things are happening in the garden faster than pictures can be uploaded about them as of late, but I finally had the opportunity to get some uploaded this evening. This post is pretty picture-heavy, so I apologize for anyone that might have a slow internet connection.....
Anyway, some new visitors to the garden showed up the other day, and fortunately my daily plant inspections found the little devils before they could even get started good...
One of the green beans was completely covered with Green shield bug nymphs, as seen in the picture below....

Photo below - even though all of the babies were found and destroyed, chances were - momma was in the vicinity as well. Sure enough, she was located on some foliage directly above the babies, then met her maker, too....Kinda pretty though, huh?

And now - for some vertical melon porn...Haha. While getting ready to sling some newly developed melons in the garden, I thought you might wanna see what I use for mine, so this picture was taken for any readers that might have wondered....$5 for 10 melons isn't too pricey - and if careful, you can get a couple year's service out of them.

Photo below - remember the largest melon from the last update? Well, it's gotten bigger as can be expected - but has some competition in the size department, now....With that being said, it's about the size of a volleyball right now, and hopefully will get even bigger before it's finally mature.

Photo below - like the one in the previous picture, here's another crimson sweet that continues to do well - especially with all of the rainfall that's taken place this week.

Photo below - giving the largest crimson sweet in the first picture some size competition is this black diamond that's on the same trellis....Both will weigh about 8-10 lbs. each I figure, and heavier support methods are on standby - just in case the 20 lb. mark is reached later....Anyway, things are looking pretty promising so far.

Photo below - this new arrival is Cool Green Honeydew, and set fruit right at soil level....these things taste so good that you'll wanna slap yourself silly while eating one - but only when they mature sweet, as advertised. A few more on the vine look pretty good too, but are still tiny things right now. Hopefully, there will be lots of them later....

In other news, it seems that a few Santa Rosa plums escaped the devastation of the plum curculio pest, and around 10 were harvested for fresh eating.....Although just a hint of what is anticipated next year (thanks to discovering Imidan), still - even such a small edible harvest is appreciated.

Also, tomatoes and squash continue to make the kitchen counter their home thankfully, and most will be eaten over the weekend. A backyard gardener has to love this time of year!

Take care, and happy gardening

EG