greenhouse bonus

[BUFFS]

as i look outside now,its pouring rain again,but i cant believe the plants in the greenhouse,in a summer where sunshine has become an event,we got over a dozen peaches,lovely,and the tomatoes and peppers/chillis have gone on to produce,if somewhat late,a very good harvest,they are about 5/6 weeks behind, but even without much sun,they are all getting their mature colours,and the bonus?, the melon plant i had given up on,but not removed,has suddenly produced two melons,each about 6ins long and nearly as wide,they had been covered by foliage when small,it had been cool for so long that the plant showed little growth,its only 2ft tall now,what a peculiar year we are having,checked the temp in the g/house for last night and it read 4deg,in august?....might be a hard winter,i hope not..

[Dusty Rhodes]

It sounds like you found a silver lining in the cloud. Two six inch melons on a two foot plant...you should save seeds from that one for future use!

[lottie dolly]

what a lovely find,funny how nature can redeam it's self,i now have melon envey,sorry you got rain,we got sunshing all day so far,

[BUFFS]

it does seem that plants will survive,despite my incompetance,the melons look like they wont be ready til the end of sept,but they are now being looked after,as already said by dusty,i WILL be keeping the seeds and using them next year,this is the first year that we havent had over a dozen from 3 plants,they sit besides and are treated the same as the toms,switch positions each year,change g/house soil,down to 2ft every second year,and you would not believe the scent in there that announces they are ready,...the reason i missed them earlier is that i am not so mobile now and if i crouch down,i need something to hold onto,to get up again,years ago i had the same trouble after 12 pints...see how economical i have got...i must be going green...or am i not moving fast enough?..

[Dusty Rhodes]

years ago i had the same trouble after 12 pints...

All those pints have taken their toll...What you need is a wee dram or two of a fine single malt and you'll be springing right up again!

[Florence Fennel]

Congratulations on the melons BUFFS. I do wish I had a "proper" greenhouse to spend time in when it's raining, which is quite a lot this year. I know what you mean about the crouching, it's not the getting down, it's the getting up that poses a problem. Cheers to the dram of fine single malt if you're buying Dusty and welcome to the Vine

[Rhona]

Well done - I've only produced one melon in years! This is our last year of rubbish blowaways (we're in the market for a 'real' greenhouse now); and everything is growing in a three-sided (mostly, since the door zip has bust), completely perforated bit of plastic, mainly lashed together with duck tape and string. Despite this, and the hideous growing weather, we've got the best crop of aubergines we've ever had. SOme plants have five large fruits on them, all are doing brilliantly. Don't understand this growing lark one bit sometimes.

[BUFFS]

i reckon that melons like the fairly free draining soil,black loam,it has been fed with horse manure virtually since the house was built,1886,so it should be in good shape by now,i suppose the guarrantee is up on it now so im just enjoying it.i can bury the head of my long handled shovel into the ground just by pushing down,and i have buried all the compost bin contents 3ft down each year to raise the topside soils thickness now to over 3ft deep,it does great parsnips,will have to get help this year with burying the compost under the veg patch,feul for next years crop,and no chemicals used in the 12 years we have been here.it is strange that some we think will flounder go on to amaze us and the dead certs flop,and there is always next year to try it all in a different way or sort of plant,gardeners must be the eternal optimists.....