I know it seemed like I had fallen off the face of the earth, but the combination of lots of work and unbearable heat have taken their toll. Thanks to all of you who let me know I was missed. And Ana, thank you! But how did you know I like the Beatles?
I don't know about the heat where you are, but this is the time of year when I wish I was some place other than Florida. It has been unbelievably hot, and this started a month ago. Today the high was 97 F and the heat index 105 so even for Florida that is HOT!
My tale of woe outlined, I thought I would provide an update on the garden because it has simply been too hot to attempt any real adventures. I wanted to provide a full shot so you guys could get a sense of just how big the garden actually is.
Things are moving along and I harvest more and more vegetables every day. The corn has really taken off. And, while it is not "Field of Dreams" volume, the ears are everywhere and getting bigger by the day.
One thing I have found interesting about the ears of corn is that some of them have red "hair" or strains that grow out of the top of each ear of corn. I've never seen that before.
The watermelons while not huge have become what I call "individual size." My little niece was promised the biggest one in the patch and you can see from her finger prints that she has literally been "weighing" her options.
But the biggest surprise of the garden has been the cantaloupes. There were only a few sprigs that came up and were slow growers so I did not expect much from them. In fact, a few times I considered pulling them up to make room for other seedlings.You can only imagine my surprise when for some unknown reason they started to grow. And grow they did... now I have six cantaloupes and counting. They do not have a smooth surface so you can't see the telltale finger prints of "you know who" but I am sure she has "weighed" her options here too.
And the monster crop that I was afraid would overwhelm the rest of the garden has proven to be a bust. The same problem I had with the summer squash occurred with them. They sprout a bulb of squash and then it dies on the vine before it can even attempt to get bigger. A slight disappointment, but an ecological disaster averted!
Love the photos! omg, u done good!... Could the squash dilemma be too much sun? My grandpa would grow his where it would get half sun... I heard how hot it is in Florida... My gf suffers from migraines due to the humidity.. She was miserable... Your melons look good.. Now how about your father's?
ReplyDeleteChrissy,
ReplyDeleteI'm not certain about too much sun because the plants receive a lot of shade from the big tree near that portion of the garden. When I told Daddy that I was planting squash he just shook his head and said "I have never been able to grow squash. The vines come up but nothing ever comes from it." I see now that he was right. It is all rather strange in that watermelon, cantaloupes, and squash are loosely in the same family. So it is very strange that those two will grow but the squash will not... But, I am pleased with the overall outcome. I have been eating from the backyard since May so I count it as a success. The let down is that I had a ton of spaghetti squash recipes that will now have to be scaled back or abandoned.