Gardeners in the Asylum

[SvilleKid]

I planted several items this year for the first time (for my garden), namely watermelon, cantaloupe, spaghetti squash and broccoli. So far, I'm getting much better results than I ever thought I would. The broccoli had me worried for a while that I was going to eat leaves, but the heads finally came out, and went from about 3 inched to 7 to 8 to 9 inches in about a week. Eight out of nine of the plants have, or are producing really nice heads, one plant has never taken off, and is still kindly sickly looking. The squash has to have at least 25 setting fruits between the two mounds. I was informed today by my mom (81 years strong) that they are perfectly edible when young, just like summer squash, as long as they are not too big and the rind has hardened. I sent one home with her, which she cooked last night like fried green tomato. She said only thing was, it was kinda bland, and probably could have used a dash of lemon juice (or maybe some greek seasoning). That actually helps me out, because I was wondering what the heck I was going to do with all of them when they all matured in the same week or two!! I can eat some as they grow, and leave some for harvest at full maturity.

I was stoked yesterday afternoon to discover my first watermelon! True, it's only a little larger than a nickel, but it's the first one I've grown, and I wasn't really sure how the soil would do for them. Now, all I have to do is worry that they will make it to maturity! I've got problems with the neighbor's dogs coming across the street to (apparently) tromp thru the garden, stepping on everything they can. And, i had to dispatch a young rabbit from the garden a couple of days ago. In all the years I've had the garden, this is the first rabbit I've encountered in it. I'm also more than a little worried about squirrels, possums, raccoons, armadillo and possibly skunks. I've never had a problem with any of these in the past, but I've never had "sweet" ground crops like melons before. Right now, the garden's not fenced, and I have a dog that is kept in the yard by an invisible fence. She is fairly aggressive with animals like armadillos, but didn't pay a bit of attention to the rabbit, and could care less about squirrels. She apparently found a skunk within the 5 acres I have her confined to a couple of weeks ago. I never found it, but the odor from the dog was significant for several days. This is the first evidence of skunk we've had in the 25 years we've lived here. I'll just have to wait and see if any of these animals become a problem. If so, I guess I'll have no choice but to fence the garden in some type of strong fence.

Here's a pic of my first melon: