Recently I made a trip to one of the schools that the company I work with maintain. The gardener (Lee Miliatis) there showed me some of the fruits of his labour in the modest vegie patch in the junior school playground. It’s part of an initiative to get the kids involved in growing food and learning some garden basics, and they love Lee’s lessons. I was impressed by the miniature watermelons he grew. There were five yummy melons nearly at full size all within a space of a couple of square meters.
 
Once established, watermelons aren’t thirsty at all, but when you do water them be sure to avoid letting water sit on the foliage as you may get mildew problems. Instead,  water straight to the roots. Plant in a sunny spot with good drainage and mix in some well rotted compost and manure prior to planting. Adding in some potash will give you more flowers and therefore fruit. Check out some of the heritage seed banks if you want to try older varieties. You'll know it's time to harvest when the vine starts to wither and yellow and the fruit gives a dull thud when you tap your knuckle on it.
 
There was also some great eggplants in that bed that I got to take home . Thanks Lee!
 
 

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About this Blog

 

A constant learning curve, gardening is all about trial and error. Knowledge grows from sharing information between friends, passing down through generations, or just getting it wrong a few times before you get it right. It's about getting grubby outside and aching from digging too much, but then feeling that fall away when you get your first flower or prize fruit off a new tree... and getting so excited you need to tell everyone.

Yours in Green is everything I’ve learnt so far - what to do when, how to do it right the first time, and of course, some frustrations along the way and how to remedy them.

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