Journal August 30, 2013 Melon Time

Last fall when we picked the last of her green beans, my Granddaughter Ava said that she would like to grow cantaloupe in her garden next year.  I really did not know whether the season was long enough in upstate New York to produce a decent melon, however, I purchased seed on Ebay for variety that was supposed to be just right for our zone.

The seeds were started early in the spring, but as we had a cool damp spring, they were not doing all that well.  We decided to plant a different variety using some seeds off the rack at Home Depot.

Today, we picked our first melon, it is the variety from Home Depot, and it is a beauty.  The melon below is called Hart's jumbo, and it certainly is jumbo.

So why post it on a hydroponic gardening blog if it was grown outdoors?  The answer is: that every time I drained an ebb and flow system, I dumped the "used" nutrients on the melon patch.  Over the years I have found that "used " nutrients are really not completely used at all.