I guess we are in the drought I suspected. The
Regional Drought Monitor confirms this. We have had a slight rain or two but no where near the rains we usually have in the summer time. This lack of precipitation helped lessen the impact of the flooding from the Mississippi in this area...or so I have heard. The good news is I'm appearing to have more success with my watermelons than I usually do.
I'm attributing that slightly to the dryer weather or maybe it's the new white woven mulch technique I am trying this year. So far it's impressed me! Everything grown on it seems to have done better. It suppresses our aggressive weeds and reflects additional light. This area of my garden is more traditional. I grew peas, beans, corn, potatoes and watermelon so far in it and the yields have been fairly good!
But the watermelons....I'm thrilled. At first glance it just resembles a tangle of aggressive vines. In Louisiana all vines are aggressive.
But look closer! Nestled in those mounds of leaves are melons! Medium sized...
...young and small....
...I read in my Mother Earth News Magazine that to tell if a watermelon is ripe the tendril closest to the melon turns brown. Well this one is yellow. Maybe a few more days?
Some are just huge. I planted two varieties. I can't think of the names right now, but one is red fleshed and I believe this striped long one is orange.
There are about 20 melons growing in the patch already and the vines are still growing. I wonder how many we will wind up with.
This is the striped zucchini. I have decided this one is my favorite zucchini. It taste great and grows to a large size before the seeds get too large. My Mother-In-Law loves to take a large one wash it and cut a slice off and munch on it. She munches on a raw zucchini for several days. She says it's because these zucchinis are sooooo delicious.
My other melons... well something is in a lot of trouble. My Silverline melons were larger this year than they have ever been. Something else loves them as well. Maybe my chickens? I think I'm going to cover them with chicken wire. If that helps I'll know they were the culprit. Every single Silverline melon has at least one little yummy bite munched out of them or a lot more as you can see...smile.
This is a sleeping beauty melon. I've never grown them before and am excited to try them. I read that all other melons besides watermelons are ready when they slip readily from the vine. Some indicate their ripeness by getting a color glow. Such as cantaloupes get a orange glow under the netting when they are ripe.
This volunteer squash vine is turning out to be a type of gourd. They are really pretty with stripes, wings, and warts. I am going to use them to decorate
in the fall.
The okra loves this hot weather....
...so do the aphids. There are ladybugs in the garden, but not enough to handle the current population of aphids. I'll have to do something about this.
I'm working on the side garden. I have put down clear plastic in an attempt to kill aggressive dollar weed and other weeds. I also read that it will get hot enough under there to kill any seeds. We will see!
It's already turning brown under there after one day.
Here is Mr. Slug checking out the new roof on his digs.
