Cantaloupe and Peppers

The cantaloupe are exceeding all my expectations.

They began to ripen Monday and have produced 20 melons per day the last three days! They lay thick under the vines. The Burpee PMT are big and easy to see. They are much bigger than the Heart of Gold variety, which are hidden by the dozens in their little patch.

Cantaloupe a few days from ripe.

The garden has been especially productive the last couple weeks. It is very gratifying. It is nature’s way of hooking me into my next garden. We’ve had 4 bushels of B+ grade sweet corn. I would give it an A but for some worms.

The pepper crop is the best I’ve grown. Usually peppers can be picked three times. Our first pick was last week and each variety has done very well.

King Aurthur bell peppers were most abundant. We have 25 feet of two wide plants. Each plant seemed to have about 5 nice heavy peppers each. We got 1 1/2 boxes.

Pablano peppers on horizontal mesh trellis.

Pablano, Jalapeno and Serrano have all produced nicely too. We first mulched the peppers with cottonseed hulls for weed control. Later we added a mulch of chicken manure compost. The plants have surged since this and are growing and blooming vigorously.

The trellis held the plants during windy weather. In central Oklahoma, peppers need some trellis support to keep them standing. This mesh material is secured to a narrow board which is set onto stakes in the ground. The two boards help stretch and keep the mesh tight. It is too early to see if this will support the plants for 2 more months.