I knew my melons would be a race against time. I should’ve started their seeds indoors with the tomato and pepper seeds. I also should’ve planted them in a much sunnier place. The ground never fully dried out and many of melons turned yellow and died on the vine. Only four melons survived, one for each vine.

A few weeks ago, the leaves started to wither. The vines quickly followed suit.

It broke my heart to pull my almost-ripe melons from the garden. My inner optimist hoped for sweet and supple flesh. Saddly, when I pried apart the tough exterior, my Prescott Fond Blanc melon was rock hard.

Sigh.

Luckily, there is awesome heirloom melon man on 9th and Nicollet during the farmer’s market. Even if he can’t tell me what went wrong, I’ll treat myself to a few Prescotts and try again next year.

What disappointments have you experinced this growing season? What would you do differently next year? Is it normal for gardeners to be really adept at growing some crops and totally inept at growing others?

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 10:00 am and is filed under Cucumbers + Melons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.