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In 2005 I decided I was going to seek out heirloom melon seeds and grow a whole bunch of different melons. What made me think of them was yesterday I found the seeds I had saved from my grand harvests and put them in jars in the dark back corner of my pantry for the 2006 planting and for some reason or other never got around to it again. I suppose they are still o.k. to plant and I may put some in the ground next spring to see what happens.
However, in 2005 I was diligent and I planted a variety of them starting all the seeds in our greenhouse about mid February. I started them in moist sterile potting mix in biodegradable pots that I could later put directly into the ground. I kept them in a dark area until they germinated and once they did I made sure they got about 12 to 16 hours of light daily in the green house as Carl had put some lights in some boxes for me.
Once the last frost was gone I was able to put the pots into the ground. However, one can plant them directly into the ground making sure they are put into fertile soil and get abundant heat. One needs to plant four or five seeds per hill about 1 inch deep and keep your hills about five feet apart.
One can grow melons on trellises. However, you will need to make slings for the larger ones.
I planted some Minnesota Midget which is a small (3 to 4 inch melon) with sweet orange flesh which was very tasty.
Pear melons are a pear shaped melon with lovely fragrant, orange flesh and are really good producers.
Ananas D' Amerique A Chair Verte (Green Fleshed Pineapple) was grown by Thomas Jefferson so I decided to grow some also and I trained them to grow up a trellis. The melon is firm and sweet and very fragrant. The melon has netted skin and light green flesh.
I grew watermelons called “Moon and Stars” which are small deliciously sweet watermelon that has dark green rind with yellow spots on it. Very tasty and it takes about 95 days to mature. I discover that one can now find “Moon and Stars” that has yellow flesh.
Melons are not really hard to grow they just need a lot of weeding and watering.
“Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…
Peace, Light and Love,
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries and to take a walk through her pictorial garden or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books, including her new book, “The ABC’s of Wine and Beer Making”. Many of her articles written for Greenthumbarticles have paintings she has created of the subject and they can be seen at her “How to Do It” site. Remember to check out her artwork, especially of her fruits and vegetables. Many of her paintings are sold internationally and many of her works of art have been reproduced on note cards, post cards and other functional items and you can get Giclee prints of her artwork starting as low as $11.89 Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books, art, etc. go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my sites.”
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