Gardening and it's fruits.....

  Some might wonder why we would want to garden today when we have an abundance of grocery stores stocked full of food. Gardening is very thrifty and quite educational. All they require is some time and effort. Freshly grown  produce is much more tasty and usually more nutritious than commercial produce. You may also like to to learn how to preserve foods for winter by canning,dehydrating, or freezing them. 


It is an enriching, educational experience to garden, and it is also great fun! There is nothing like reaping crops that you have nurtured yourself. A nice feature of gardening is that,not only do we enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, but we also have a first hand opportunity to see God's hand at work.


Did you know? 
  Did you know that tomatoes,squash,cucumbers and pumpkins are fruit? The dictionary defines fruit as a part of a plant that grows from a flower and contains one or more seeds. A vegetable is any part of a plant that is customarily eaten and does not come from a flower. Edible roots,leaves, and stems are vegetables. 


Helpful Websites on How to Start a Garden of your own:
http://www.startingagarden.net/
http://www.ehow.com/how_17942_start-garden.html
http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/tips-starting-garden.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_6621708_fun-gardening-ideas.html




We started the garden this year with new rich soil that we purchased. The fun part is going to the store  and picking out your plants. We planted strawberries,pole beans, squash,zucchini, cucumber, most herbs, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, red and white onions, sweet melon, watermelon. (Also, on the side we have since last year 2 Apple trees, 1plum tree, 1peach tree, and pomegranate bush.) At first, our garden looked pathetic and sad. We figured that the soil we bought was burning some of the plants do to to much of one chemical. (Plants are picky too! :)  Now, everything is growing wild. We have a above ground hand build wooden garden. 4 decent size boxes. Accept the pole beans sadly all dyed, at the end we figured they needed a very special condition, that wasn't being met. 


Out basil have grown like crazy. 2 green bushes! Everything else is doing great! Our zucchini,squash,cucumber,watermelon, melon is growing to big for the garden, as it creeps out into the yard with it's whiskers. 


Today as I walked outside to peak once again at the garden I researched on melons and how to tell if they are ripe. We have at least 20 melons growing and maturing. Since the greenery was overwhelming I tried finding some of the bigger melons. 


How to tell if a melon is ripe:


1. You can tump it- and if it's hollow it's ripe!
2. The center of the melon or the belly bottom as some call it on the very top- when you gently with your fingers press it and it's just a tad squishy- guess what?....it's ripe.
3. The melon will have a yellow to yellowish color to it
4 Finally, the smell! The best sweet,delicious, smell of a ripe melon!
(This works at the store when your buying your melons/cantaloupe)




I found one! It was half yellow and it smelled so good! I was so so excited!

Our ripe melon!

It was amazing! There is nothing like fresh, picked fruit!