Canary Melons and Fertilizer Bags

I planted uri today, or canary melons, those yellow fruits that have a thin skin and white flesh that is mildly sweet.

On the big field, I mixed in one scoop of three kinds of granulated fertilizers in the dirt for each mound, mounded up the soil and placed 4 seeds on the top with a covering of rice bran that was too full of worms to use for pickles (thank goodness my mother-in-law decided that she wouldn't use it for pickles because usually she is undeterred by the presence of vermin in the food). I cut the top and bottom off of an old fertilizer bag and used 4 bamboo sticks to make a little wall around each mound. That's how we plant them.

Old fertilizer bags are useful things- we cut them up into strips to tie straw; we turn them inside out to fill with other produce; we use them as seat covers when we sit outdoors; we use them to choke out weeds. We never never dispose of them. My mother-in-law saves every single bag until it is used or it naturally deteriorates from being stored too long!