I finished up my garden rather late this spring, but one of the things I did purchase at the feed store was two watermelon plants. I thought I purchased two Black Diamond plants; however, once the fruits started appearing, it was obvious that I’d gotten two different ones. I found the tags I stuck into the ground. One was Black Diamond variety, the other Charleston Gray.
Finally, yesterday SuperDuck and I checked on the garden. We thumped the melons, listening for the hollow sound and then looked at the bottoms where they rested on the ground to see if they turned from yellow to a creamy white color. Two passed the test, one of each variety. This morning, I picked the charleston gray.
The fruit was small, probably in the 10 pound range, but for my husband and I that seems perfect. I have about six or eight fruits growing, and the last thing I wanted was to get overwhelmed with watermelon. I took a break from writing and cut it open to put in the fridge.
Perfection! Maybe because I hadn’t eaten watermelon in a long time (It was mom’s favorite fruit next to strawberries.) or maybe it was because this one came out of my garden, but it tasted so sweet and juicy. So delicious! I cut it up and put it in the fridge. I can’t wait to share it with hubby this evening.
This one’s for you, mom. I know wherever you are, that you’re smiling that I was finally able to grow watermelon in the garden. (We’d tried a few years ago, but the season wasn’t right and the fruits never developed.)
For the record, I shared some of the rind with the parrot, who made his YUMYUM noises over it, and the bunny is interested, but not quite sure. I’m going to take the rest of it outside for the poultry and the pig.
