Will it be bigger?

The second winter melon has grown somewhat and I have secured it from falling into the drain with a milk crate hooked to the fence. :) It is now almost 20 inches long and slimmer than the first melon but then, it is only 3 weeks old. Hopefully it still has another 2 weeks of growth because my messing around with the crate yesterday caused it to suddenly crash, pulling and tearing the part where the melon's stem joins the vine. There was a tear and sap seeped out but hopefully, it can still hold on.



Okra flowers are so pretty and the stigma is so velvety. This is the picture of my first flower taken yesterday. Today, the flower is gone and in its place is a fertilized pod (hopefully)!




Yesterday was also significant in that I fed the plants with my own homemade compost. Vegetable and fruit waste were composted for 6 months and the resulting compost was actually smell free and dry, nothing yucky at all ;)

The vine grows on!

On Saturday, I cut and distributed the winter melon to my neighbours and friends. From the centre of the melon which is more spaced out, it can be seen that this melon has grown larger and longer than most melons found in the market which have compact centres.



I had thought of uprooting the winter melon plant once I harvested the melon two weeks ago but then there were signs of more melons developing - so I left the plant alone. Those potential melons died but new ones started developing. Just earlier this week from under the green leaves, I discovered this 10-day old melon outside the fence. I will have to look into ways of securing it from being stolen or from falling into the drain.



Two other female flowers were spotted too - one outside the fence and the other within my garden. But from experience I think they do not look like they will survive!





This okra flower was photographed yesterday but has fallen off today without even having bloomed :(

A Happy Day!

Today marks a great day, almost 5 months to the day I started my gardening. A first harvest - rather significant for me as the winter melon is the first plant that I had planted from seeds to finally culminated into a first harvest. The sole winter melon decided to "self-harvest" by breaking off from the vine in the heavy morning rain.

I quickly retrieved the prone melon when the rain stopped, trying my best not to further damage the skin as I struggled to move the heavy load from behind the pineapple plant. In the end I took a big piece of rag and laid it on the wet earth near the fallen melon and lightly heaved it over to the cloth before lifting it up to move it indoors to clean it up.

Here is how big it is :) 26.5 inches long, 30.5 inches in girth and 19 kg. The hair on the skin fell off easily when I wiped it and the skin became waxy and shiny. Indeed it is a deep green! For the record it took just 5 weeks for the winter melon to grow to this size!



Meanwhile the second fertilized female flower is looking rather shapely and I think it may survive yet!