New Lineup

It is about mid-season and things are growing nicely. Hotter than normal temperatures have accelerated vegetative growth on melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. It has been windy almost every day since mid-May, which has a desiccating effect, but has kept humidity down. Last year, plants suffered a lot of mildew from extra-humid conditions. I'm hoping to avoid a repeat this year.

Somebody stole a couple of beets from my garden plot this week. That is the first theft I've experienced in a few years. Who steals beets? It doesn't bode well for my melon crop, which should be large. 

I lost a few melon starts early after transplanting to my plot. I direct-seeded enough other melons that I was able to transplant a few extras to make up for the lost ones. The math and new lineup is below.

14 melon starts - 3 deaths + 7 direct-seeded = 18 

• Valencia 4
• D'Amerique 3
• Golden Midget Watermelon 3
• Uzbek Sweetness 2
• Lambkin 2
• Charentais 2
• Vert Grimpant 2

The two direct seeded Valencia are just taking off, while the transplants of that variety are already massive. One of the Lambkins struggled epically before establishing itself and now is buried by an Uzbek. Perhaps it will deliver some late season melons after the Uzbek is tapped.

A backyard raised bed with a hill of Crimson Sweet watermelon
(foreground), a single Sugar Baby watermelon and onion starts for
transplanting later this season to my garden plot. I have written before
about the big-A maple tree in my backyard and the perils of planting
in the raised bed soil. Watermelons in pots are an experiment this year.

Two of the three melon starts I transplanted to pots in my backyard also died. I ended up with one Sugar Baby watermelon as a survivor. It is growing OK, but should have more vegetation by now. I planted a hill of four Crimson Sweet watermelon in another pot in the backyard. Those were store-bought transplants.