Watermelon + Update

Yesterday Chris and I took on the task of cutting the Megatron Watermelon vines back, just a wee bit. About a week ago we cut the ends off of the vines, since they seemed to be growing 1' a day, but no fruit had set. Well, fruit has set my friends.

I'll admit, I have never ever liked watermelon. Everyone else seems to enjoy it; I feel so left out sometimes. But Chris likes it, so we grew it for him. Since this is my first real year gardening, I've tried to read and learn as much as possible about the things I am growing and how to maintain them. Next year, I will take seriously how much room watermelons take up, and how to prune them judiciously to a) keep their size under control, and b) get them to set fruit sooner (and not take over my whole garden!).

And I'm just waiting for the day that Jake the dog discovers it, for watermelon is his favorite snack. Really.

Chris will buy the small seedless watermelons, and when he's done, give the carcass with a little flesh left to the dog. He will eat everything but the hard end. So watermelon never makes it to the compost bin!



Here are some earlier pics of Jake and the melon.

Chow down dude!














Other than that, the only other things going on in the garden are gobs of cherry and grape tomatoes ripening...









and we a massive flea beetle infestation, noted by holes in the leaves of the tomato and eggplants...

I sprayed Pyola from Gardens Alive! on them this morning (mixed on my new workbench!), and hopefully that will work in getting their population under control. They haven't yet affected fruit quality, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Looking in my books, it sounds like these little critters lay eggs in the soil, making it difficult to be able to get them really under control. Like all the pests this year, we are again late to the game!