melon harvest
 

This week I picked three Blacktail Mountain and four Orangeglo watermelons. The Blacktails were very sweet as usual, but the Orangeglos surpassed expectations. The largest weighed in at 42 lbs and the smallest was 35 lbs. Either I have been craving watermelon or it was the best tasting watermelon ever. I ate (my wifehad a little slice) half of the 42 pounder and shared with my wife's sister and her family the other half. One I gave to a friend who was going to take it to a church picnic and the other two went to a local nursing home where my wife and I volunteer as groundskeepers/gardeners. I hope the old ladies liked orange fleshed watermelon.

There are 6-8 Blacktails and 5 or 6 Orangeglos on the ground not yet ripe. I think there is still enough time. I also planted Sweet Siberian, but have only seen one melon and it was tasteless. The muskmelons, Golden Gopher and Pride of Wisconsin were excellent and plentiful with several left to harvest in the coming weeks.

So far a very good year.

I'd never grown watermelons, but I'll try this varieties next year.
Thank you for this post !

Gérard

Orangeglos rock!:D I picked three today (28, 29, and 36 pounders). Those babies get huge. More out in the melon patch.

For us, this has been the year for Ali Baba to step forward and take the applause. A nice red melon with an aspect ratio that allows one to slice it lenghtways and fit it in the refrigerator. Not many seeds, either, and delicious.

This was my first year growing Blacktail Mountain. Next year I am going to plant that one early early, to try to stagger the harvest.

I've watched this Vert Grimpant for weeks. The leaves are getting rust or something. I feared the worst but today it slipped off the vine! There are probably 20 more hanging out there so fingers will remain crossed. Now where's my knife?

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/dellareina/melon223.jpg[/IMG]

Paul,
Thanks for the report. I've grown Orangeglo in the past, and was pleased with it.
I've also grown Golden Gopher in the past, and consider it an excellent tasting muskmelon. I'm thinking of planting Pride of Wisconsin next year. The last few years I've grown mostly canteloupes, such as Charentais, Petit Gris de Rennes, and Noir des Carmes. Next year I'd like to trial and compare a number of muskmelon varieties.

A good surprise for me this year : honey rock
I'll grow it again with "noir des carmes" and "petit gris de Rennes".

Anybody hear of a variety named Tiny Orchid ? It was a small sized watermelon, yellow w/black seeds...Much earlier and better than Blacktail Mtn this year...I picked it up at a nursery and saved the marker, but can't find any info on the web....I imagine it is a hybrid, but I would love to find seeds for it...

Jeanne