Down by the Bay, where the watermelons grow..

Down by the Bay where the watermelons grow..Back to my home, I dare not go..For if I do, My mama will say.."Did you ever see a fly..wearing a tie?"..Down by the Bay........

My kids use to sing this little ditty all the time. They would not stop at the end of the song but instead made up their own rhymes sometimes singing verse after verse until I thought I would go nuts. Now, I wish I could hear them sing it again..not really..it probably would not be the same since they are all grown. But this brings us to the topic of watermelons growing by the Bay or Bayou for that matter! If you recall, there is a watermelon that is taking over the

garden space at an enormous pace. It had started in the tomato patch, made its way over the fence into the bell peppers, passed the green beans and into the pea patch. Well, now this entire area is a watermelon patch. It has encompassed everything including a fig tree..nothing is safe from the Marauding Melon! The small melon that was photographed is now huge..it is about twenty-eight inches long and still growing. Plus, today I noticed many tiny melons everywhere! They are under the peas, hanging on the fence and one is even in the fig tree! If the raccoons do not decide to have a party some night, we shall be eating watermelon quite often from this one plant!

Down by the Bay..there is also a family of ducks that are taking over the Bayou just like the watermelon is taking over the garden. These ducks, if I have identified them correctly, are Mottled Ducks. This is strictly a Southern species of ducks that usually stays put here on the Gulf Coast year round. Last year, I noticed three of them that spent most of the day in the Bayou. They would fly out two or three times during the day..always heading west..then would return an hour or so later. I soon found out that they were heading just a bit west of here to my cousin's house where she laid out a feast for them! Their trips were mealtimes! Each day they would head to her house to dine on the finest meals of corn that she puts out in pans for their convenience! She started with just a few ducks and a pair of Canadian Geese and now has

upwards of fifty! The three that stay in my Bayou nested earlier and as of today's count the three have now multiplied into seventeen! It is good to see the marshland thriving so well considering all it has been through recently..what with hurricanes, home construction in the area and oil spill threats. Dear Cousin..keep feeding those ducks! I enjoy having them in my Bayou and as long as there is plenty of free food they will stay!

Demise of a Garden

As I said before..it is HOT! Temps were over 100 again today with no rain in sight. My once lush garden now stands a big chance of withering away to nothing but a pile of rubbish. In a mere five days, the beautiful, green plants that were full of yellow blossoms and tiny, green tomatoes have become crispy, dry stalks. The ground around them is hard and dry. It makes me sad. Not so much that the garden has passed beyond its usefulness but that no matter how much I tried, I could not save it. I always feel so guilty walking past the poor wilted plants standing there in the blistering sun.

These tomatoes will be pulled from the ground on the first day that it is cool enough to work outside. The ground will be turned, fertilized and reseeded with Butternut Squash! Butternut Squash are great as fall garden plants since they should bear before frost. Once picked they can be over-wintered with very little trouble. I am pondering whether to put the tomato cages on the squash to see if I can contain them inside the garden. My gardens are tiny patches scattered throughout the yard so anything that vines soon takes up way too much space. This makes it difficult to walk down the boardwalks in between the gardens and even harder to care for the plants.

The garden in the shade stands a much better chance of survival. Here the Bell Peppers are wilted but revive during the night hours. Surprisingly enough, the one plant that appears to be doing quite well is the watermelon. The rogue melon that is meandering around the garden patch as if in search of cooling water. As with the gourd, a grasshopper ate the stem off of the first melon that appeared on the vine, but now there is a much larger fruit hanging from the fence. It is about 14 inches long and has already started pulling the chicken-wire fence over on top of it. Perhaps this is a self-preservation tactic! We have a multitude of raccoons that would love to make a meal of this watermelon! Maybe if the weight of the melon pulls the fence down on top of it, the raccoons will have too much trouble trying to get at it. Ahh..wishful thinking anyway!