Baby Watermelons

After two weeks of nothing but male flowers, I finally started to get female ones on the watermelon vines.  I hand-pollinated as many as I could find, since about half usually fail anyway.

Pretty soon, the stems started to thicken into umbilical cords, and the ovaries started to swell.  All of them.  A few failed after that, but at least three are still growing.

Ok, it's one thing to plant a few watermelon hills and hope for the best.  When you're facing the real possibility of three or more watermelons at the same time, it's a bit overwhelming.  Even if they're smaller than the packet advertised and more like "personal" watermelons under five pounds, that's a lot.

The vines are also taking off and overrunning the pond.  I have to keep snapping the tendrils off the carrots.  I'm less concerned about the fennel, which is mostly bolting in this heat.  Some parts of the garden you want to flower, others not so much.