Minnesota Midget Melon

I harvested our first melon of the year yesterday - a little late! 

I don't grow melons very often but I chucked these seeds in last minute, then didn't plant them on quick enough and in the end they got chucked in a planting bucket and left in the corner of the greenhouse.

For their neglect they've rewarded me with a few miniature melons. I could smell this one was ripe as soon as I went in the greenhouse. 

They're only tiny, about the size of a cricket balls but the perfume coming from it is really strong.

the variety is bred to be small and early to ripen in a short season. I think this was probably a day or two over ripe but still really tasty, the girls ate it straight away, with big dribbles down chins! 

I'll certainly be growing this type again and maybe even try them outside next year or under a row cover. I've saved the seeds so I'll probably be giving some away to friends and in the seed swap as well.

Do you grow melons? What variety do you grow?

Abundance Of Fruit

Unfortunately it's not here but at my parents farm. I went for the first time in two months on Friday (I know I'm a bad son!) and the little orchard I planted years ago is doing brilliantly. Plenty of early fruit.

 My mum, the girls and me walked round eating different apples (discoveries and Worcesters) plums and greengages. I had to slow the girls down at one point or they'd get bad bellies!

 The early fruit seems to be doing the best in there this year although there is plenty of fruit for later in the season. I need to get the food drier out and start drying some again, and maybe think about attempting to can some! 

Has everyone else got a heavy crop of early apples?

Strawberry Growing

I'm pretty good at growing most things but I suck at growing strawberries. I'm not sure what I do wrong but they never seem to do very well. 

Working at a friends house today I think I saw the answer. 

Strawberries in guttering

 I know growing plants in guttering isn't new but I thought this was a great use of space and at "toddler" hight a great way for children to pick their own. 

Great use of space

There were loads of strawberries ready to eat and I imagine it's far easier to control any runners or weeds and watering would be straight forward! 

I might have to try this on our fence at the front of the house next year and see if we can grow a few more berries this way. I've got some old guttering saved from a job back in the winter that would be ideal for it.

Anyone else been growing in this way or similar?

Mulching With Wood Chip

I've managed to stay somewhere near on top of my veg garden this year with weeds, but the soft fruit garden is another matter. It's full of nettles and docks. And I mean full 

There is a fruit garden here somewhere! Honest!

 So this week I've made it my job to tackle it before it all goes to seed. After a few people recommending a video I watched one over an hour long on the "back of Eden" system of gardening, I thought I'd try a lesser version of it and mulch the soft fruit garden with wood chip from my tree surgeon of a brother.

Laying newspaper down first once I've pulled the big weeds

 I laid a layer of newspaper or cardboard down first to try to suppress the weeds and then a good 4 inches or so of wood chip. I always thought that wood chip was meant to remove the nitrogen from the soil but apparently that's more when you dig it in, also you're meant to counteract it by adding manure to the surface when it's needed. Anyway I doubt it could use up more goodness that all the weeds!

Mulching the blueberries

Blueberries mulched and netted

I can now see what is fruit bushes instead of trying to find them in the weeds.

I'm about a third of the way there with the fruit garden now. There is another couple of loads of wood chip at the farm that I'm going to bring up and lay down on the rest of it. I could also do with finding a source of cardboard as I'm thinking the same system would be good with my willow coppice to keep the grass down.

Anyone else been mulching with wood chip?