Vertical Gardening

If you are limited in the space in your garden, you might want to consider growing your vegetables vertically. This was one of the many gardening experiments I have tried this year. I bought nine 6 foot long bamboo poles so I could make 3 tepees. For each tepee I simply joined the tops of 3 bamboo poles together, I pushed the ends a few inches into the dirt and tied the top with twine.

This image was taken at the beginning of the season. There is one plant placed at the base of each of the bamboo poles.

And this picture was taken just a few days ago.

As the plant grows, I cut up old pantyhose, because who wants to wear them in the summer anyways, and tie the plant to the bamboo.

The vine is strong enough to hang onto the fruit. I am doing this with pumpkins as well, and it really works!
These are my charantais melons, I took a picture of it with my hand to show how big they are, but also to show you how clean it is under my nails. It is rare to see my nails so clean, I'm always digging in the dirt, and have chronically dirty nails.