Watermelon!

Wow! Watermelon fresh from the garden. We have had some unseasonable hot weather this summer in Grants Pass Real Estate so melons have ripened early this year. I actually got our melons planted late and they still got ripe early. This is a picture of a sugar baby watermelon and two varieties of cantaloupe, namely fast break and ambrosia. Both are exceedingly sweet. Cantaloupe is easy to pick--simply watch and when it turns tan or brown check the stem and when it pulls off easily the melon is ripe.

Watermelons are a different matter. There are several things to check for with watermelons. One is a yellow patch on the bottom where it touches the ground. Next is a low pitched thump when you pat the melon. And the third is the curly tip that goes off to the side of the stem end. When it is still green so is the melon. When that curly cue is brown, the melon has a yellow patch on the bottom and the melon thumps when patted, then the melon is ripe and sweet. Nothing like a fresh melon right out of the garden. Cost effective too. So far we have gotten three watermelons off of one plant with at least one more to go. The plant cost me $1.50. Try to buy four watermelons in the grocery store for $1.50. No luck. Plant your own.

Put down black plastic, cut a hole for the plant, put in the plant, water regularly and wait for God to grow your melon. Very easy.

This is a picture of the watermelon pictured whole above, here cut with what was left of it. Within a half hour it was all gone as our family loves melon and this one was really good.

What a great way to use your Grants Pass Real Estate.

Bye for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Ahh Summer!

As you can see the garden in Grants Pass Real Estate is growing greatly. My dad used to say about the corn, "Knee high by the Fourth of July." Our corn was a bit above knee high on the Fourth, but now two weeks later it is shoulder high. A couple of weeks ago I put some compost around the bottom of the corn stalks. That may have something to do with the great growth. The melons are setting. Squash and pumpkins are setting on the vine and blooming. We have started picking cucumbers. Tomatoes are on the vine and growing. Peppers are on the plants and growing.

It is a great time to sit back and watch God grow the garden. Although I did have to take a run through the garden with the tiller again. And my wife pulled some weeds as well. But all in all we watch. The grapes are growing and getting bigger. The blackberries (these are o

nes that I planted and want) have set fruit and are ripening. The plums are growing.

Here in Grants Pass Real Estate, plums, apples and pears are usually consistent producers. Other fruit trees bloom early when the weather gets warm in the spring and then have their blooms frosted off with a late frost. If you can protect the blooms on other fruit you can get beautiful crops as well. I have tried turning on a sprinkler when frost comes with some success. The sprinkler will coat the blooms with a layer of ice. The ice will melt slowly when the sun comes up and this slow warming will protect the bloom. Whereas if the bloom is coated with frost, the frost will melt quickly and the cells in the bloom will burst and kill the bloom. I have a friend who says that he has put a light bulb in the center of the tree and turned it on when frost comes and the heat from the bulb has warmed up the tree and prevented frost damage.

This is a picture of the sunset over the mountains here in Grants Pass Real Estate. As is very evident here only God can make a mountain like that and a sunset like that. We are blessed to live here.

Bye from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.

chuck