Urban gardening 2010: Watermelon

Paul's coworker had given him some tiny watermelon seedlings in mid June.

We threw them into a medium sized galvanized bucket, not expecting much. But once we put them in the dirt, they starting growing like crazy!

Late June

Early July

Mid July

Watermelon blossoms! (Mid/Late July)

Bumble bee on watermelon blossom (Mid/late July)

First watermelon! (Mid/late July)

 Late July

Late July

We weren't sure when the watermelon was ready for picking, but since it hadn't gotten any bigger in a week, we took our chances (it was about the size of a tennis ball). P cut the watermelon open, and much to our surprise, the inside was was almost completely rind (the white part). There was a little pink-ish center and even the seeds, still soft, were whitish/clear. It looked more like a super round cucumber than a watermelon! Tasted like one too...  

 

Watermelon (& green apple eggplants) in  early August

More watermelons! Hope these are sweeter.... (Early/mid August)

Urban gardening- May and June

So much has happened in May and June, and everyone's growing up so fast! The last time I posted was at the end of April and some of them were barely out of the ground!

We are so proud to be such good plant parents... I guess it's appropriate to be posting these in May and June, when it's um, Mother's and Father's Days.

We've maxed out the available space we want to use for the plants and have actually been giving plants away. But P brought home these little watermelon seedlings that his coworker gave him, and we couldn't turn them away. So now we have to find a space for them too!

We've already harvested some of the fruits of our labor (har har)!

 Lettuce and cilantro from the garden...

I've also been sprouting alfalfa sprouts inside and it's super cheap and easy. They just need rinsing twice a day and within 4 or 5 days, we get these super fresh, delicate sprouts that are perfect on sandwiches, eggs, or just on their own!

One of the coolest things is putting them in the sunlight right before you eat them- the sun activates the enzymes in the sprouts and they turn from brown to green from the stored energy in the seeds. Photosynthesis right before your eyes!

Bonus points for the nutrient-rich water that I reuse to water the rest of the plants!

Simple sprouting jar using a mason jar with cheesecloth 

 Brunch on the patio with sprouts on top of eggs, seasoned with our herbs

 We hope by mid-summer we can replace the asparagus with zucchinis, and the tomatoes and carrots will be from our garden. 

Thanks Mary for the colorful placemats!