Garden update

It is so exciting to see the first sign of your watermelon beginning to grow. You start feeling like an parent waiting on a child to be born. Day after day you watch it grow. The Carmen watermelon in the first photo is the first in my garden to start forming. Now it is the size of a cantaloupe. It has the potential of 24 pounds at full harvest weight. I think the weather plays a part in this taking so long to develop. The person I purchased the original melon from last year. Already has melons for sale.I bought one and save seed from it in case mine does not mature.

In another part of the garden I have 2 more plants with 2 smaller melons. and a new tiny one forming. This area is more protected from wind by the house bush and trees. It is a clear open spot in full sun. Yet a micro environment of protection. The top one is in a open field with tress behind (North) Both areas are south facing. Yet you can see 2 weeks growing difference in them.

The next melon I planted in a few spots. Only has melons in the same open area as the top watermelon. All the plants are prolific in flowers. This plant has 3 bigger than soft ball size Karari melons. When they mature the will have red added to there skin color. The seed is from India. The melon is said to grow to the size of a honeydew. Taste maybe sweet and spicy.  It is said to be a 70 day melon too. It is my first time growing it. So will have to update on it.

The BUSHITENO  (Grif 1490) cowpea from Sri Lanka have taken over the fence in vine. 
They were slow to start. But now that we have sunshine heat and less rain. They are forming beans.

The Oca in this area is doing well. The Yacon is surviving the transplant from a container to the ground. It could no longer handle the amount of rain we had.

The plumb Lemon tomato Is forming well. The must be a mix up in the seed sent. The plant next to it is not a plumb lemon. It is more orange. Where Yellow should be the color. It also does not have a point like a lemon at the bottom.

Harvesting Walla Walla onions 2015

I have to say this is the best harvest I have ever had of onions.

 I plant to get some Potato onions to plant this fall. I found this really good link to some great information on growing them. The person has been growing them for many years.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jnqst7-9YfWFovhqjARtcZZVJC0TPzKsow_5mdAwnyA/edit

Harvesting Cranberry beans and Dwarf Grey sugar peas

I am saving seed from both of these plants. So this is more of a how to collect seed to regrow them both. But the Cranberry beans could just be saved to eat as a dry bean in this form too.  could have just picked the cranberry bean at early stage and cooked it like green beans. The same for the peas. They are both a 60-65 day from seed to harvest plant. The cranberry bean needs no stakes. The dwarf gray needs a short 3-4 fence to lean on. Or it will fall in wind or rain.

Yesterday I replanted the cranberry beans. I have about 14 pea seeds in water. I am soaking them about 24 hours to help break there dormancy. They can take 10 days to 2 weeks to sprout. They have a hard seed coating. Where the Cranberry beans were sprouting in the pod at the time of harvest. That made me wonder if they would be good to save for seed. I did not want to chance. But I will save some to see if the will grow next spring. But this way I get 2 crops. ! for seed the other for food and seed.

The Experimental Farm Network seeds of 2015

Phaseolus coccineus
( Black Coat Scarlet Runner Bean )

 I love the flowers. With all the rain we had this year in Missouri.It took a while to get these to pollinate. But the bee's are hard at work today.Many pods are forming now.

Pea (Dwarf gray sugar)

 This has a beautiful flower.You can see photos in my other posts. Right now the pods are starting to dry so I can collect seed soon.

. BUSHITENO  (Grif 1490) cowpea from Sri Lanka

 This plant is now climbing the fence. It is the slowest at getting started.I have not seen any sign of flowers yet. But I think they may start soon.

Faro Quinoa (Pedros select)

 I had to start new seed for this one.It could not take all the rain or lack of sun we had this year.

Belezian cranbe

This is the only plant to make it thew all of our rain and lack of sun. It is short. And now forming seed balls. I will add more details soon.

Plum Lemon (Lycopersicon lycopersicum) (PI 64753)
Heirloom Tomato This plant was fast to start. All seeds germinated. Will add photos and more info soon. 

Phaseolus coccineus ( Black Coat Scarlet Runner Bean )

I finally have beans growing on the vines. The Black Coat Scarlet Runner Beans are beautiful! many blooms. But with all the rain this year, in Missouri. There was not much chance to have bee's or humming birds get this plant pollinated. They have to go deep into the plant to find the anthers and stamen. It would be difficult to hand pollinate. But I may try a small paint brush. When we have another dry day. I  should have kept track of temp and rain amounts. But I can just look them up. Today right now it is raining again. 71f & 83% humidity. High for the day was 77f.

I have read this plant is affected by temps over 90. So far we have only seen 3 or 6 days this high. But have them in future forecasts. So, I can only hope I have an abundant harvest.

True potato seed berrys

I have 1 small berry that fell off of a sister plant to the top berry in my hand. The top berry is still growing on the vine. What is amazing is one looks like a Diploid shape. The other a tetraploid (round shape)

This 2nd photo both berry's are from the same plant. Yet one has the round shape, the other a strawberry like shape. 

The plants have smaller and less fleshy leaves, like other diploid types of potatoes. They have dark wood looking stems.The leaves also have deep veins and the color of purple shows up in them. It is a beautiful plant.

 The berry still attached in photo number 1 above is from the plant on the left. The other 2 berry's in the 2nd photo above are from the plant on the right.

 This is the only other plant that was in bloom at the time So it may be the pollen partner to the  round berry. I did try to cross the 2 pants. But not sure if this was the result. We had so much rain I only had 2 tries at pollination,. I did a cross with the center plant to the left one. above And  this lighter color flower below to the right plant. .

This is what the plants  look like now..The stems have been pushed to the ground by wind and rain. They are still growing. So I have hope the tubers will continue to grow under the soil.

I have video recorded the 2 times I tried to cross pollinate the plants. but have not put them together yet. I will post a link to it when I do.