Well, well, well! Some of those cantaloupe seeds I stuck into the mostly empty Three Sisters mounds have begun to sprout!

I have no idea what kind of cantaloupe they are. The seeds came from a very tasty store bought melon (though it was labeled as locally grown). I decided to just stick some in the ground to see what would happen. They have passed the first test. The seeds have been proved to be viable. The next test will be whether or not they set fruit and breed true to the mother fruit.

I am not as hung-up on things breeding true as some people are. Every plant may be different, and every fruit may have benefits and/or weaknesses, but sometimes it’s possible to run across something worth keeping. I like the experimentation aspect of it, and no matter what, anything any of them may produce will likely be completely edible (just not perfect in the store bought sense).

It’s a bit of a risk planting them now, since they probably take about 70 or so days to mature, but I don’t seriously think it’s going to be getting too cold yet in early September. Provided the heat in the meantime doesn’t stunt or kill them (or pests and critters ravage them), I should be able to get a few melons before the weather does them in.

Basically, it was just something to plant to give me some new seedlings to dote on while so much in the garden is in the process of being removed or dying on its own. If the plants are looking poorly or not looking like they are going to be doing much of anything by the time I decided to remove the stuff in those mounds, I won’t be all that heartbroken about just pulling them up. I just need something to do in the garden other than pulling up plants and killing bugs. That’s getting pretty boring and depressing, and I am trying to stay interested enough in the garden to get excited about planting fall and winter stuff in a month or so. I am always interested in baby plants!