Garden Update

Well, it's been a while since I have given a garden update, so I thought I'd do just a quick one for now!

I had an unexpected visitor with some very unusual dress!  Look at the fancy, velvety-looking saddlebags!  I had never seen a dragonfly with markings like this!  He was pretty big!  He stayed there motionless for quite a while!  In fact, when I first spotted him, I thought he might be dead, but I went in to grab my camera hoping he would still be there when I got back, and as you can see, he was still waiting for his close up.  I think he must be a ham, because he stayed there long after the camera was put away.  I think he was secretly hoping I'd snap a few more pics.  But, he finally gave up and eventually flew off.  I'm pretty sure I heard a faint, but distinct sniff of annoyance as he swept by me.

I harvested my dragon fruit this evening, but these pics were taken last weekend.  It was getting close then, as you can see!  It is now mostly a dark pink, almost red.  I plan on taking it to work tomorrow to share it with my friend who gave me the plant!  If you want to see what they look like when they are cut open, you can go to this previous post.

Charentais - pronounced Share-en-TAY

But, by far the cutest things in my garden right now are these little Charentais melons!  They are about 6-7" across and I don't think they are going to get any bigger.  They will be the perfect individual size serving.  They are described as a favorite of the French and are supposed to be very sweet and succulent.  An extreme cantaloupe.  I am hoping I will get to find out how they taste, but, I may miss their debut!  From what I have read, they do not ripen after they are picked, and need to be eaten soon after being harvested.  It is said that you can tell when they are ripe just by the smell wafting through the air when walking by the plant.  Apparently they get very fragrant, but the skin also turns from a light green to a creamy pale yellow color. 

The first one that ripened up, split and ended up full of ants and roly-polys!  I didn't even know it was there under all the leaves until it was too late!  :(   I do remember smelling the cantaloupe before I actually found it under there!

I currently have four, but one is under the watermelon!  The vine grew under the little decorative fence I had laid down to keep the cats from using the dirt as a litterbox.  The watermelon decided to use it as a support, and I just discovered the other melon growing below it when I tried to move the vine out of the way.  It just wouldn't budge and when I looked closer, discovered the reason was because of a very heavy fruit at the end!  But, from what I can see, it looks like the roly-polys have pretty much destroyed the rind, but  . . . we'll see . . . maybe I'll be able to salvage it!

Moon and Stars Watermelon - mine looks like a Stars Watermelon!
Maybe there is a moon on the other side!

And, here is the one lone watermelon my vine produced!  I think I should have planted at least another vine so there would have been better pollination, but it's a learning process!  I am anxious to try this one!  Another variety I haven't tried before!  It is about 12" long and doesn't seem to be getting any bigger, so I am just waiting for it to ripen!  I hope I get it right!  I've never grown watermelon before, so . . I'll have to let you know how it goes!  (If you look closely to the left of the melon, you can see the Charentais melon trapped below the fencing.  You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them, if you click on the enlarged photo, it will enlarge again.  The dragonfly has lots of interesting detail if you want to check it out more closely, also!)

I wanted to also share some photos of the pumpkins I harvested, but haven't been able to get good pics of them yet.  Maybe I'll be able to get that done before they begin to deteriorate too much!  I got 2 Luminas (the white ones) and over a dozen of the Sugar Pie pumpkins. I have eaten a few, given away a few and have a couple left.  I originally had hoped to get a few pics for a first day of fall post, but unfortunately am going to miss getting that done in time!  hee hee . . . maybe I'll get some before it is time to post winter pics!  ;)

Well that's it for now!  Just a quick little post today!  I plan on having lots more to share in the coming weeks!  Lots of photos of some pretty places is on the agenda!  So, I hope you'll come back to take a peek!  I look forward to sharing another cup of coffee with you soon!