'Not your average watermelon'
09.07.11
Chauvin, 50, is precipitate to boast about the watermelon he grew in his backyard garden, which he says tipped the scales at 68 pounds and measures 43 inches in circumference.
Barton Joffrion, a horticulturist with the LSU AgCenter, said watermelons typically spread to between 20 and 30 pounds.
“That’s not unheard of,” he said. “But that is big. ... That’s not your usual watermelon. It’s more on the large size, but it’s certainly not inconceivable.”
According to Guinness Elated Records, the world’s heaviest watermelon weighed 268.8 pounds and was grown in 2005 by Lloyd Witty of Arkadelphia, Ark.
Joffrion said it’s unusual that the melon didn’t “split” with the up to date rain.
Typically, citrus and melons split after long periods of dry poorly followed by rain, he said.
Joffrion said the size of melons depend on the collection grown. And fruits grown to larger-than-average sizes typically suffer defeat flavor, he added.
Source: Houma Courier
The seeds of friendship
09.07.11
Jere Schroeder unswerving it would be nice to add a vegetable
garden last year at HeatherWood Assisted Living Apartments, so he
planted eggplant, kohlrabi, squash and tomatoes on a 50-by-50-foot
machination behind the facility on Eau Claire's south side.
"It was nice to have fresh vegetables for our salad bar every
day, but I found out it was too much line," said a chuckling
Schroeder, HeatherWood's community liaison whose job includes
handling the operating costs of the flower gardens around the facility.
Rather than let the vegetable garden go, he called the Hmong
Requited Assistance Association to see if officials there knew of
anyone willing to take on the project at no cost for the homeland.
"We wanted to make use of the land and provide an activity for
our residents, many of whom love to garden — and trumpet me where the
weeds are," he said, laughing.
"The Hmong have a reputation as farmers. I see their gardens
facing of town, and I see them selling vegetables at the farmers
market."
Source: Leader-Telegram