note to next years gardening self: grow more baby watermelons.
while we were out watering our little fall garden and taking note of the million and a half things that need to be done in the garden before the first frost (and i was simultaneously having a semi panic attack internally)- i went with crosby in arms to check out our delinquent and sad watermelons.
these watermelons had a sordid past. i planted a whole bunch of these watermelon seeds with big hopes. they didnt take off quite as quickly as the squash, and were getting slightly shaded by some peas that were somehow still going strong at the end of may. when i realized they werent going to make it, i promptly dug up a few of the plants and moved them over to another bed where they would be free to grow at their own speed. a montessori bed, if you will. even as i moved them as gently as possible, they just didnt really want to be uprooted from their un montessori bed, and never really thrived.
i nurtured them with water and compost, and even a trellis, which they seemed to enjoy greatly. only two small plants survived, and by the end of august we had 3 baby watermelons. i really didnt have any hope for these watermelons, and had prepared my speech for those plants along the lines of ," you had a good run, babies, next year, next year will be your year to shine."
so you can imagine my surprise when i walked up to the watermelon area and pushed gently on the biggest watermelon to check out if it would ever be edible and it cracked open, revealing a bright yellow center. loving all things melon, crosby immediately stuck his tongue on the watermelon, which i had predicted to be tasteless, as it was smaller than even a baby watermelon should be. when he started furiously sucking the juice out, cody and each tasted it. cody deemed it a watermelon that tasted like straight sugar, and the rest was history. (see above.)
the little watermelon that was so small that i almost threw it into the compost bin was just the perfect size for two small little chubby hands.
the melons that could. i still have one more on the vine.
