Watermelon Farming

I am officially declaring myself a full fledged watermelon farmer.  At last count, I had 19 watermelon growing in my garden.  I am so excited about these watermelon because I have been documenting their growth from the very beginning.










These were the first leaves that sprouted out of the ground about 2 weeks after we planted the seeds.  










 

One week (and lots of water) later, our watermelon plants started to take shape.
 

Six weeks into the season, the plants had grown into vines.

It wasn't long after that I saw the first flowers.

 And where there are flowers - there are baby watermelon!

Over time these tiny watermelon grew, and grew...

 
into gigantic watermelon!

I planted 3 different varieties of watermelon.  (Watermelon Jubilee, Sugar Baby and a Seedless variety.)  Yes, we actually planted SEEDS to grow SEEDLESS watermelon - ironic don't you think?  The hardest part of being a watermelon farmer is waiting for the fruit to ripen. I was so excited to pick the first watermelon and slice it open.

My first watermelon was a sugar baby.  Weighing in at just under 3 pounds, this sweet little sugar baby was beautiful.  (Can you tell that I am a proud momma?) 

I sliced it and we ate it in one day.  I am loving these juicy, sweet and tiny watermelon that doesn't take an army of people to eat.  This one had tons of seeds but it was really yummy. 

I have been doing all sorts of research on watermelon recipes so do not fear - LOTS of watermelon recipes coming to the blog in the near future.  If you have a favorite way to eat watermelon - please let me know.  We have lots of watermelon to eat in the next few weeks.

Ciao!