Took 118 days to ripen
The Rockmelon finally ripens. Took 118 days, coming in at 200 grams at about 20cm in circumference. The smell that fills the the kitchen is, oh, just divine – light, sweet and fruity. Before Xavier (my partner) left for this holidays, I promised to wait for him to enjoy the melon. This is going to prove to be more difficult than I anticipated. Must . Be . Strong.
About 3 months old - 1 of 10 expected melons
Fun fact: The skin of a young rockmelon is smooth. As it matures, the skin roughens with brown scar-like markings until it eventually looks like what you see in the supermarket!
I am the procrastinator queen. After moving into our current home over 1 year ago, I finally got my act together and got my backyard done. The result, as you can see below, is a usable vegetable patch of 6m x 1.3m using treated timber. The bottom was filled with local area soil and topped off with compost. Not only have I made the place look so so much better but I turn a once piece of un-usable land into a workable vegetable patch. I am so proud of myself.
garden before the big makeover
Garden after. OMG!
Garden hawk-eye view
The plants that I am currently growing:
I am fertilising the green vegetables weekly with a weak organic liquid fertiliser and boy are they growing like crazy! Spinach leaves are harvested weekly by picking the outer ones and leaving the center to grow.
Not sure about the Bok Choi though. They are not growing as well but I will with-hold my judgement for now; The weather has been cold in Melbourne for a couple of weeks and probably it is the heat that is the missing ingredient.
Snow Peas
Bok Choi and soya
Ha-ogen Rockmelons
Red Fig Tomato
Corn
German Chamomile