Hope Amidst Tragedy

You have all been getting a good dose - of my gardening stories as I wind my way through my first year of tending to a full patch of vegetables, herbs, and fruit.

The watermelon vine - has been one of the most fascinating things. It's like an octopus. There were times when I know that it was growing a foot a day. It was spreading out in all different directions....

...but it only produced two melons! - yet, two is better than none.

You can imagine my shock - a couple of weeks ago during our heat wave when I came home to see both of them in thecondition depicted here. They looked like those big yellow balls we used to play kickball with on the playground.....after someone had taken a knife and punctured them.

They had literally exploded!!! - they were even black on the bottom. There was so much water and sugar in these babes that the heat combusted them and POOF...they were gone.

I went out this morning - to dig up the vine. Sure, it was still growing but I didn't want to look at the sad reminder of the two infant melons that didn't make it to the picnic this year. As I was about ready to pull the the plant up, for some reason.......

I followed one of the vines over to the corner of the garden - behind the wheelbarrow and under the shade of the neighbor's evergreen tree. Look what I found.........





I think there is a picnic in my future after all!!!....and my little garden keeps teaching me things every single day.