Watermelon Fail

When I started blogging, I told myself that I would post about my failures as well as my successes. After all, no one is perfect. And I have learned a lot from reading about other peoples "failures," so hopefully this will help YOU.


I consider myself an average gardener. I am learning quickly, but I still don't know everything. This year, I FINALLY had success growing pumpkins and melons. Yay! Watching and waiting for them to ripen, though, is hard. And how do you know if it is really ripe?


I had a wonderful little watermelon on my vine that I had been watching grow for weeks. I went away for a week on vacation, and when I returned, it looked exactly like the picture on the plant label! Hurray! It's time! So I thought. I read the label, and then read it again to be sure that it was ready. "Dark green fruit, firm, 6" in diameter." Yep. Yep. Yep. Then I tapped it and it sounded hollow, just like it's supposed to.


So I picked it.

I used my hand to show you the size. My hand is about 6 1/2 inches from heel to tip of fingers. (Ignore the green paint on my thumb..... I guess I should have worn gloves while painting my daughter's light.)

I was so excited to cut into it. I grabbed my kids and hurried to the kitchen. I got out my knife and sliced it open.......

Darn it. I guess it wasn't ready. :-(


I will post again when the next melon is ripe...... wish me luck.