EXCITED:SURPRISE Cantaloupe!!! :)

So I've been neglecting my garden slightly....well at least the melons. They hadn't been really producing anything and the vines are so over-grown that I was worried I'd disrupt them by checking for fruit.



I was out picking cucumbers for my next round of pickles today and I decided to investigate my 2 cantaloupe plants....



BOY was I surprised when I found these 3....









Next I found these 2 smaller ones....







AND THEN.... THESE TWO which are the biggest of all and look like they may be the furthest along - developing the lines on the skin.










I'm ridiculously excited. This is my first year doing SFG'ing and it's been awesome. The produce I've harvested from just my one 4x8 bed is amazing. Last night we had Eggplant Parmesan with 4 small eggplants from the garden - YUM!



So now that I have some actual cantaloupe on the vine.... I'm panicking! What do I do now? Are they ok just laying on the grass....? They were covered in vines when I found them, which is why I never noticed until now that I had ANY...should I leave them that way or let the fruits get some sun/stay dry? When do I harvest them? Is it ok for only 2 plants to set so many fruit?? Can you tell I'm new at this?? Please give me some advice!

Hooray! Congrats and lucky, lucky you! If they were mine I would just leave them where they lay but if they are on the ground I would put a paper plate or two under the melons while they finish growing.
http://www.natural-organic-farming.com/organic-squash-vegetables.html

Thanks for the tip about the paper plates - I will try that.



I'm nervous to do anything. The very first one I found I put up on an old plastic seedling tray and it rotted. It probably was going to anyway, but I can't help but wonder if it was because I "messed with it".



I'll update this thread when I finally get to pick my first cantaloupe! I watched some youtube videos about how to tell when they are ripe - let's hope one "slips" off the vine soon. I can almost taste it, lol!

Happy Melon Dance