Helping Hand

Not that Mother Nature needs much help, (I seem to have an abundance of bees around my plants this year (woo hoo!)), but I took the opportunity this morning to hand pollinate one of my watermelons. Not many of the female flowers are open in the morning, but I found one in the corner of the garden. I pulled off a nearby male flower, and made an attempt to pull off the petals. This is easier said than done. The stem accidentally came off first, leaving me little to hold on to. To avoid breaking off the stamen, I ended up just bending the petals back, and using them as the handle. Not sure I did it correct, but I basically just rubbed the stamen against the pistil in hopes that the pollen was transfered. Now whether I or the bees are the propagating party, we will never know. But just in case the bees missed that little baby in the corner, I hope my assistance is "fruitful."