Pulsegleaner's Garden 2019; The Uphill Battle

I'd do it, if I could get a male and female flower open at the same time. Though I have no idea if watermelons are self incompatible (if they are I'm wasting my time)

the Jalotomatos might be tricky to hand pollinate, they have this quirky style arrangement.

Pulsegleaner said:

I'd do it, if I could get a male and female flower open at the same time. Though I have no idea if watermelons are self incompatible (if they are I'm wasting my time)

the Jalotomatos might be tricky to hand pollinate, they have this quirky style arrangement.

Click to expand...

aren't you seeing any native bees around like the bumblebees or smaller ones? those are the most likely pollinators of a lot of things around here.

There are some (including a likely sweat bee nest under the ferny looking legume) Whether they are coming or not I don't know.

Part of the problem is that there are a LOT more male flowers than female ones (I think that is normal) I think there have been only 2 female so far.

Oh, and while I was over at the side garden this morning (which is almost totally destroyed by critters so I don't think about it usually) I noted that one of the surviving rice beans has flowers.

Red tomato harvested (will eat when I have time tomorrow to cut out all the bad spots)

Mint is getting flowers. Maybe this year It will stay (I was always told Mentha nilaca was too tender to keep over the winter here, but Mountain Valley growers where I got it says zone 5-11, and I'm 6b so I should be all right.) I guess part of it is I haven't USED it as much.
I haven't made any limonata this year, so I haven't ravaged the plants.

Also spent some time online trying to identify the feathery plants that sprouted from the seeds I found in the senna bags. I know they are in the genus Sesbania but which species, I have no clue (and probably won't until when and if they flower). There are a lot of pictures of seed online, but they seem unreliable, with different seed in pictures of what is supposed to be the same species. The picture for S. grandifolia seems to match But I though that was the species I grew before and those seeds looked different (seeds that look like what I remember are elsewhere shown as being from S.bisponsa)

Collected the berry from the potatoes.

Noticed that a few of the cow peas I threw that the critters buried in the flower garden have flowers. Will make a note to move round cages from back (where they aren't covering anything anymore) to there so as to be able to save the seed (last time this happened something ate the pods when they were almost ripe)

WE HAVE A MELON

https://www.snapfish.com/library/sh...DopduRRy1dONKR6zg/AUS/27950479239070/SNAPFISH

Wait a minute.

How small is that? A serving size is acceptable but is it on its way to being smaller than that? Does it have enough time?

There are melons in my garden - so happy about that! Common hybrids (sorta) but I was afraid that they just wouldn't get started after yo-yo temperatures in June and July. On.the.otherhand, it's the winter squash that is in serious straits. Should try again to find the La Madera seed that @Hal recommended.

My peppers and eggplant deserve a respectful burial.

Steve

Of course it's just starting out. At the moment it's about the size of a gooseberry or olive. It's a Joe Simcox special variety from Costa Rica, so when it's fully mature it will be about the size of a baseball (so a single serving)

As for time, I think so. Spring came late for us, and when it does that, it usually leaves late too, so we are probably good until almost November before we have to worry about the frost (even early December would not be that unusual). That's a good month or two for it to finish up. If it was a hulking hundred pounder I'd see your point but, as I said, it's not going to be any bigger than a baseball.