Autumn Fruit

My determination to raise rockmelon and watermelon in southern Tasmania has sort of been successful.

Mountain Sweet is a rockmelon variety that has passed the cool night test. It's sweet, tender and what I call 'lunchbox sized'. Rockmelons tended to do better than the watermelons overall. But now I've removed the ducklings from the unset fruit eating equation they are now coming along too, but maybe not quick enough to handle the rapidly cooling night time temps.

Sugarbaby is doing best, Black Biamond second (but it cheated, it grew in the greenhouse) and golden midget is roaringly healthy, but has only just set fruit.  Next year they'll be grown under a plastic hoop house ala Eliot Colemann.

The pears first season, these pears are three of only about eight fruit but I love Beurre Bosc pears. Trev says they're gritty. But reading up on them the other day it seems they are when not ripe.  Packhams Pear is also going well and the Nashi is dripping with so-darn-close-to-ripe we're-eating-a-few, fruit.