A funny story...

So one day late last may I was on my way home from work and decided what the heck, and stopped at the very shabby looking Jones-Hall nursery on Beach Blvd. I’m always curious to see what type of plants people carry. It was there that I came across the Sweet Crimson Watermelon and was first inspired to develop the driveway garden. I brought them home, stuck them in the ground, watered them and waited.
It was slow going at first, much like the little engine that could, until finally one day they picked up steam and took off. Vines everywhere. There was still pollinating to deal with. That seems to be my biggest challenge. So as usual every time a little tiny melon would appear I would grab my little eyeshadow brush and go to town.
A few would swell and then I’d take a peak and find that a worm had gotten them, or they would get a few inches big and then rot and fall off.
One weekend we went away for a few days. When I came home I started digging around in the vines to see what was happening and low and behold, two perfect watermelons. They were each about 6 inches long and 4 inches around. I immediately ran and found some bricks to prop them up to keep them out of the mud and dirt. I checked them daily and over the next few months watched them grow bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.
One afternoon I was just pulling up to the driveway and my stomach sank. What I failed to mention earlier is that one of my beloved melons had taken up residence right next to the road, and on that day someone had run right over it. Smashed it to smithereens, it’s crimson red innards mashed into the dirt. I was sick. Couldn’t speak. Hadn’t been that emotionally deflated since my grandmother passed away. It was truly as if someone had run over one of my pups.
Ok, so not really a funny story at the time. But I did learn a lot about the soil in my drive and continued to find inspiration in what was once an uncontrollable weed patch and have gone on to grow some really amazing stuff there.
This afternoon when I was admiring my garden from the road. I looked down thinking I had seen some new weed out of the corner of my eye, and what to do you know? That smashed up watermelons seeds starting to grow!