Racing the Bugs and Mildew

I'm growing a variety of cantaloupe called Minnesota Midget, and the first one was delicious! Contrary to what you would think, I'm learning that early varieties of things, if they are not too heat sensitive, actually work really well in the warm climate. This is because they can sometimes out race the rampant bugs and mildew. In the summer, I'm basically always working with the goal of producing a crop before the plant dies off, which is the same goal gardeners have the far north with the short summer.

Start of Summer

Going into June, I'm trying to stay positive by focusing on the plants doing well instead of the ones decimated by the alternating heat and downpours as well the exploding pest population. (Thunderstorm gardening interruptions are great for blog posting though!). Our first cantaloupe, an early variety called Minnesota Midget, is finally ripening. Hopefully it will finish before the dastardly worms have killed the plant completing. The peanuts are growing fantastically and there are a few baby watermelon on the trellised vines. We also just harvested our second ever successful sweet corn crop and beat out the worms and beetles. It is so scrumptious to have a few ears of fresh corn on the cob night, and they cook so quickly in the microwave! It is difficult making decisions now about what to plant and how to work on improving the soil over summer. We are definitely going to add a bunch of greensand. Greensand is amazing for Florida gardens! It supplies potassium (which our plots have even less of than nitrogen) to help create green, sturdy stems. The greensand also helps bind the sandy Florida soil and provides several micronutrients. What I love the most is that, even though it looks like sand, it can hold ten times its weight in water. Talk about useful in the Florida heat! This can prevent leaching of nutrients, a common. during all the watering (sigh....so much watering...all the time...never-ending). We will probably continue to add more soybean meal and coffee grounds from Starbucks as well. More on those garden amendments in future posts!