All In Good Time

Thanks to a summer that has been far cooler and wetter than normal, the melons in the garden have taken their own sweet time(pun intended) to grow and ripen. However, as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait. And it has been well worth the wait. I thought the lack of ninety degree days and sunshine would have an adverse effect on the taste of this season's crop. I was wrong. These are some of the sweetest melons I've ever grown. My only complaint is that there might have been more of them to harvest if the weather had been more cooperative. Well, in the immortal words of Mick Jagger, "You can't always get what you want." But thankfully, I can truly say I'm happy with what nature provided despite adverse conditions.

A Slice Of LIfe Situation

All good things must come to an end. This is the thought that kept running through my mind today as I enjoyed what will probably be one of the last melons from my Minnesota Midget melon plant this season. It's September, a month that can be a scorcher here in the Midwest, but which is more likely to be filled with days where the temperatures swing lower and lower with each passing week; especially at night. Mother Nature didn't design melon plants for less than warm weather. So while my squash and leafy greens will be comfortable until the first hard frost, the melon vines will no doubt give up the ghost long before then. It's just a sad, inconvenient truth. Soon I'll be without those sweet, tasty slices of sunshine. And I'll be left feeling very melon-choly.

Ode To A Melon

Oh wonderful sight,
Oh most excellent orb,
Oh fruit of delight,
Oh sweet succulent gourd,
Born of earth and water and light
You are a true child of the vine.
And I must wait.
Until the date,
Nature makes your taste full and divine.

Mouthwatering Melons

Despite the late start, it's been a very good year for melons. I lost a few to squirrels and our resident neighborhood rabbit, but there have been more than enough left to eat and plenty to give away. You could say that this season has been melon heaven!

Midgets In My Garden

Before some of you out there get too worked up over the politically incorrect use of the word midget, I have two confessions to make. First of all, I have an addiction and I have had it for as long as I can remember. I love fresh fruit, particularly melons. If I lived in the proper climate or had a greenhouse sophisticated enough in which to grow them, I would have them fresh and close at hand all year round. And if you haven't guessed it by now,the second confession is that the title of this entry refers not to little people, but to melons; specifically, those of the Minnesota Midget variety. I have grown these with mixed success for about three years and I finally figured out why I wasn't getting more than one melon per plant. Despite the fact that they were advertised as a container plant, it turns out that they grow far better in the ground.

The midget part of their nature is that the vines sent out by the plant are generally only three to four feet long. And the fruits are about the size of a softball and provide a good serving for only one person. They taste almost exactly like cantaloupe and when properly planted they produce four to six melons per plant. I suppose it might be possible for them to do well in a planter, but I imagine that it would have to be quite large.