Oh my dear cantaloupe, if you want, we can-e-lope!

Now that's a quotable quote straight out of J the cheeseball.

Yes, we are planting cantaloupe. The J-man planted 3 in a not-so-straight row, along with broccoli, zucchini, pie pumpkin, tomatoes, thyme and chillies.

Today we transplanted a few more plants - the thyme and the chillies, but I remain skeptical. I was against transplanting them because they were mere wee plants, looking so weak and fragile.


Chilli and thyme

It was my turn today to weed. I got out my spade and little three pronged rake, and was bent over for nearly 2 hours weeding about two thirds the plot of land. And oh do the roots go deep. The grasses are the worst. It has become personal, this tug-and-war between me and the grasses. I get in there with my fingers when raking doesn't do the job. The cluster of roots grow in such a vast tangled network, I actually get a huge sense of achievement when I finally unearth those suckers. The clovers are the easiest to pull out and I enjoy chancing upon them because it gives me a moment of reprieve from the tough ones.

That said, weeding is very therapeutic. Maybe the weather was just right. The sun was shining overhead but the cool breeze kept me from sweating buckets. I smiled when I heard the birds chirping around us, and didn't realised how much I missed them when the feeders went empty for a week. Now that they're filled, the birds swarm the yard again!

The father-in-law (FIL) bought a new "squirrel-proof" feeder and replaced one of the old ones. Let's see how well this one works. Or maybe the squirrels will eventually figure a way out, like they always do.

In any case, here is the picture of our plot of land. Not very big, but when you have to do all the work, it's not very small either.



This little guy kept finding its way onto my shirt. My neighbour says its a gypsy moth, but the google images show a completely different caterpillar! Does anyone know what this is?





My stringy sunflower sprouts! and a new broccoli sprout! YAY!

More fun gardening stories later!