Spring is here, I think, and it's almost time to start planting outside. In anticipation of this, I've started some new seeds today. This year, my main goal is going to be growing an edible melon.
For the past three years, I've tried growing melons, both honeydew (my favorite) and cantaloupe. Two years ago, I did succeeded in producing one cantaloupe but when I went to pick it out of the garden, to my great dismay, it had been feasted upon by several slugs and had a gaping hole on it's belly.
So this year I've started 12 jiffy pots of cantaloupe and 12 more of honeydew. What's that you say? What are jiffy pots? I had the pleasure of introducing them to my neighbour, who is sort of a fly-by-night gardener, the kind of person who delights on finding a rose bush randomly sprouting in the back corner of their yard. Jiffy pots are amazing peat coins at first, when you pull them out of the bag, and when you cover them with water they expand to 6 times their original coin shape. The best thing about the pots is that once the seeds have sprouted and you're ready to plant them outside, you just make your hole and plop the whole thing in! No need to traumatize your plants or yank their roots around. Very handy.I've also got my standard heirloom brandywine tomatoes, lettuce-leaf basil, pumpkins, and another new addition: corn. In the non-food category (it's sort of food) I have sunflowers which I planted outside this morning. They grew so quickly! I can't wait to see what happens with them. I'm hoping for several handfuls of home-grown seeds to munch on while out on the patio.
Happy gardening.