Harvesting pumpkins and watermelon
Today I harvested the last of our summer fruit and vegetables from the garden - some watermelon and pumpkins. I hadn't tried growing either before but both seemed to do pretty well, especially given that I'm not the most attentive gardener, I don't think they were in great soil, and the Australian summer is pretty brutal (it's much harder to keep things alive than it was in Auckland).
From a financial point of view I don't think my garden has a particularly good rate of return when I look at what it costs in water and garden tools/paraphernalia (the seeds also cost money but this is fairly negligible from https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/). It gets even worse if I include the time I spend. However, that's not why I do it.
For me there are three main reasons for growing fruit and vegetables at home:
- They taste great. You can't get fresher than immediately off the vine/off the plant/out of the ground. I have found that food that I successfully grown has always tasted nicer than the store bought ones. Unfortunately sometimes the neighbourhood insects and possums agree 😃
- It makes me appreciate the store bought food, both for convenience and price. This may seem like a weird contradiction because I like my home grown food for reasons 1 and 3, but it also makes me appreciate that I don't HAVE to grow everything myself.
- I enjoy it. As well as having fresh tasty food there is definitely satisfaction in seeing the fruits (and vegetables) of your labour.
What variety of watermelons are those? They don't look like the ones I am used to. The butter nut squash is probably my favorite squash to grow but the last few years I haven't had much luck with it.
It's Charleston Grey.
Interesting, I looked it up on Baker Creek seeds and it seem to be a pretty tasty and high yielding variety.
I've only tried watermelon once with little success but we are in such a cold climate. At some point we will have a high tunnel and I think I will give melons a try again. Is Charleston Grey a favorite of yours?
It was part of a spring/summer planting pack from The Seed Collection (20 different seed packs chosen by them for $20) so it wasn't a conscious choice of variety. It was good though so I would get it again.
It's always a nice reminder that Australia has opposite seasons from Canada. Seeing fresh produce makes me wish for the end to our long snowy winter. It is nice how all of the squashes are different sizes and shapes.
I like how Steemit is international so you get to see both seasons. There are some amazing gardeners and homesteaders from all around the world on here.
I'm all about convenience haha. Nice growth
Possums and hot summer got all of my tomatoes & cucumbers .....
Good on you for the harvest !!
Hey, Dear! You seem very creative! :) Great to have you here. Looking forward to your adventures!
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