We have a ripe melon! My first ever melon from my garden (ever)!

But it is very small. The description said the melons would be 2 pounds. This one is only 15% of that. I saw it stop growing, then begin to ripen and wondered if it would taste good at all. I needn’t have worried. The melon was amazing. The smell was wonderful and the taste was better than any cantaloupe I’ve ever had. It was ripe enough to scoop from the rind, leaving little waste, which was good because we each only had two tiny slices.

The description also said that the vines would set fruit all at once, but mine don’t do that either. I planted three mounds at the same time, and those vines continue to produce flowers and set new fruit. After I lost two globes to mischief and insects, I had two more start to develop. Interesting.

My hibiscus, which was blooming so beautifully, stopped blooming. The buds would form, but would not open fully, just crack a bit, then turn brown. Internet detective time. What I suspect is that little critters called thrips are to blame. These are tiny, tiny insects that apparently can cause quite the havoc both in the garden and at home. There are 6,000 varieties and can they reproduce asexually. (This is Wikipedia knowledge, so take it as you will.)

As recommended, I removed all the damaged buds before they could fall to the ground to start a new generation, and sprayed the plant with a mixture of Neem oil, Peppermint oil, and Castile soap (3% Neem, 2% Castille, and 2% peppermint in water mixed in a spray bottle) because I don’t want to use heavy pesticides. I added the peppermint because Neem oil has an unpleasant odor. I sprayed at dusk to reduce impact on pollinating insects. A week later, we had a bloom!

I went to check my container garden and to my horror saw one of the melons laying on the ground, broken off the vine. Absolutely not ripe or ready. It had suspicious claw or maybe teeth marks. Hm. This melon was the closest to the top of the fence and I can imagine an enterprising raccoon or squirrel trying to abscond with the fruit. Or a curious cat deciding it was a play thing (most likely). Once the orb fell into the yard, I imagine the risk was not worth the reward. I did have it in a netting sling, but it was not as protected as the other melons. We’ll see if any of the others make it to fruition.

So after writing this post, I investigated my remaining two melons and discovered a gaping hole eaten into one of the unripe fruits. Sigh. Maybe the last melon will make it.

I put some temporary fencing up around my container garden because the tops of my carrots kept disappearing. I suspected rabbits. It was not rabbits. Shortly after the leaves came back, they were gone again, despite the heavy wire guarding them. Maybe grasshoppers are the culprits. I don’t think I will be getting any carrots this year, although they valiantly keep trying to produce leaves. (Yes, I’m growing them in a feed bag, which isn’t very deep, but they are globe carrots, so they don’t need depth. But leaves would be helpful.)