Growing Melons on a Trellis

Today I tied my melon vines to the trellis where I’m experimenting with keeping them out of the grass and weeds as well as away from Mama Opossum and Ricky Raccoon. This worked pretty well last year for the muskmelons but the water melons fell off due to their own weight. So, this year I’ve made a few modifications.

I made the trellises using cattle panels arched between two of my raised beds. (I’ll have a story to tell about the raised beds later.)

I’m training the water melons, crenshaws and cantaloupe to grow their vines up and over the arched trellises by tying their vines to the trellis. I placed bird netting over the cattle panels before training the vines to grow over so the fruit wouldn’t drop through the openings like it did last year. The netting, in concert with the trellis, provides a “grip” for the tendrils which also help to keep the vines growing where I want them to.

I’m very excited as all species are blooming profusly and my Sugar Baby Water Melons are setting on little melons galore.

I’ll try to get a photo of this to share with you.

By Charles

I am an Indie Author/Publisher authoring many of and sponsoring many other books in "The Well Fed Gardener" , (a branded book series ((like Chicken Soup for The Soul))) published by Earthway Publishing (of which I am Publisher). The Series is about gardening and lifestyle design. Gardening is one of my many passions. Gardening is a creative art form just like music, art, theatre, writing, philosophy, architecture or any other positive life experienced and expressed. I'm passionate about vegetable gardening especially because simplistically: 1. I like to eat tasty high quality home grown food, 2. I prefer to avoid chemicals that may be toxic, 3. I believe it is unconscionable to transport food more than 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate which, according to World Watch, is what we're doing now. To transport our food over those distances requires geneticically engineered plant varieties aimed at withstanding the rigors of handling and jostling of travel while maintaining an attractive appearance for the ultimate consumer after reaching the super market. Flavor and nutritional value are secondary considerations. Additionally, the infrastructure (roads and highways), tools, equipment, (machinery, trucks, ships planes,etc.), labor, government regulation and intervention all add to the atrocious cost to our planet. I believe that anyone can grow much if not all of what they eat right in their own backyard, community garden or patio container garden while enjoying the beauty of their designs and creations, the wonderful family and community camaraderie experiences and--all in concert with the self-satisfaction that you're living the very best life you can imagine. If you're a writer (or a wannabe writer) and feel you have a book or an article in this genre, contact: Publisher@earthwaypublishing.com for publishing guidelines.

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