Watermelon Harvest 2011

The watermelon harvest was disappointing this year will three melons picked and maybe another two that will be harvest in the next few weeks.  A total of 47.6 pounds of watermelon was picked which consisted of two Charleston Gray melons and one unidentified green striped melon with almost jet-black seeds.

Over 40 immature or rotting melons were picked and thrown away.  I did not do enough to control weeds this season and the lack of rain during the growing season seemed to contribute to the bad harvest this year.

The watermelon shown that has been sliced is delicious.  It is quite sweet.

Robber Fly in Kentucky

While tending to the watermelon plants in Hodgenville, Kentucky, I came across a robber fly (maybe Atomosia puella).  It had taken a grasshopper that was larger than itself and was having trouble flying.  I was able to take these pictures.

One can see more information about these at the University of Kentucky Entomology web site: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/flies/robber/robber.htm

This web site shows a number of robber fly pictures which helped determine the species of this insect: http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/robber_flies_asilidae

Unfortunately, the watermelon crop is one of the worst I have seen in many growing seasons.