Suggestions for melons and squash

Mudman · November 30, 2011

Last year I grew Hale's Best Muskmelon and it was a very good cropper for my area. It tasted and looked great, but was about the same thing I could buy at the supermarket. I am looking for something sweet and a little less common than Hale's.
As for watermelon, I grew Crimson Sweet several years and last year grew Baby Doll Hybrid. The Crimson sweet was good and productive, but not the greatest tasting. The Baby Doll all, and I mean all split right down the middle before ever getting ripe. My 5 yr. old grew them because he loves watermelon and yellow. So I am looking for melon suggestions.

And lastly, I have always grown Buttercup squash. I don't know if I could ever find anything better, but I am open to suggestions.

Wi-sunflower · December 1, 2011

As a market grower, I always grow Burgess Buttercup because so many people want them. But frankly I haven't found a decent variety of the original black green buttercup. I can plant out twice as many rows and get 1/4 as many squash as I will from many other varieties. Even the new expensive varieties only give 2 -3 fruit / plant on a 10ft+ sprawly plant.

Personally I think Mooregold, an heirloom golden buttercup, will have better flavor and be sweeter. Yield maybe marginally better.

I've grown Speckled Hound a couple of times now. It's bigger, sweeter and seems to yield better. It's not as dry tho, at least not this year.

For something that grows more compact I love Festival. It's a semi-bush Sweet Dumpling type. Personal size and has that sweet fine grained texture of a Delicata. It is early and yields like crazy.

For melons, we gave up on muskmelons years ago mainly because they don't have the shelf life we needed. For a nice ripe melon, if you don't sell it today, you will probably pitch it before the next market 1/2 week away.

We do quite a few watermelons tho as they will keep at least 2 weeks in summer and over a month in fall when we put them in the barn if we still have them.

You can't beat a nice ripe Sugar Baby for flavor for a red. Crimson Sweet is also a variety we grow and it will usually have good flavor for us.

For yellows I grow Sweet Siberian and Desert King. Sweet Siberian is an heirloom I got from SSE public catalog. It can be a bit hard to figure out when it's ripe, but when you do, it's got great flavor. desert King is the biggest WM we grow. It can get to over 25 lbs but will also have plenty of 15 lbers too. It has the thickest rind so is a better shipper so will resist splitting.

I have been saving Watermelon seed for several years even tho we grow all the varieties in the same field. So we also have a few unique varieties like a orange fleshed Sugar Baby. But those seeds aren't stabilized yet and will only give about 50-60 % orange so far.

Just some of my experiences.
Carol

With the splitting you mention, it's possible you had too much untimely rain that made them split and diluted the flavor.

Mudman · December 1, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

As a market grower, I always grow Burgess Buttercup because so many people want them. But frankly I haven't found a decent variety of the original black green buttercup. I can plant out twice as many rows and get 1/4 as many squash as I will from many other varieties. Even the new expensive varieties only give 2 -3 fruit / plant on a 10ft+ sprawly plant.

Carol

I'm not sure what I am doing right but my 2 Buttercup plants gave me about 17 fruit this year and about the same last year, and some are near 6 lbs. And I love how they taste and keep.

Thanks for all your other suggestions. I am thinking of doing a local market next summer so I am thankful for your input on what keeps well.

Granite26 · December 1, 2011

Delice de Table is a melon I started growing two years ago and it has a fantastic flavor!
A unique watermelon that was great was Osh Kirgizia. Both of these were from SSE and winners for me here in West WI.
What part of WI are you in?

Mudman · December 1, 2011

Polk county, near Lake Wapogasset. I am very thankful for suggestions from my fellow Cheeseheads! I would love to hear from others but it is great to hear of melon varieties that have worked near me. I have found muskmelon types to be very challenging to grow here but I finally fell like I have figured out how to extend my season and get a successful crop.

Granite26 · December 1, 2011

Gosh we are practically neighbors

I am near Eau Claire. Is that your pottery in your profile pic...are you a potter? I used to get some from a potter near Amery, Sarah Dudgeon.

Mudman · December 1, 2011

I live right on the same road as Sarah, we are about 7 miles from each other. Yeah, she was a great help when I was getting my pottery started. It is kind of a side gig for me right now. That will explain my handle.

clkeiper · December 1, 2011

We grow Athena and Goddess for muskmelons, we have grown Ambosia and Primo (got that one from Stokes) also in the past. Hales was a waste of my garden space. Didn't have one that tasted like a melon. just wet and the texture of a cantaloupe. The rest have been very good for us. The Goddess you can pick and let it sit for a few days before selling it. I t even tastes better after sitting for a few days. The primo I wasted some of it because I was waiting for the skin to turn gold and it doesn't, it stays green with a brown netting. But all were very good melons with the exception of hales.

We grow all of our melons in black plastic mulch with drip tape underneath. We fertilize regularly and when the melons are about 4 weeks away from ripe we also start spraying the foliage with epsoms salt(2 Tablespoons /gal) and spray through harvest once a week.. This will bring up the brix of the melon crop.

My first picking of the Goddess this year was 60 melons. I put out about 72 plants for this area. very few were bad, but those were only because I missed them in the foliage and didn't pick them soon enough.

for watermelons we grow Sangria and Crimson Sweet. Those are the two that have been consistantly reliable for us. I grew blue ribbon winner this year and will not be growing it again. I also tried Jade star this year, and it did okay, but this was a really bad year for the melons all together. It was cold and wet most of the season.

Tania · December 2, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudman

I'm not sure what I am doing right but my 2 Buttercup plants gave me about 17 fruit this year and about the same last year, and some are near 6 lbs. And I love how they taste and keep.

Thanks for all your other suggestions. I am thinking of doing a local market next summer so I am thankful for your input on what keeps well.

My Buttercup was also very productive in the not so good summer of 2011. I love the flavor!

Tracydr · December 15, 2011

We get a lot of great melons at our local market here in AZ. One of my favorites is the yellow one called Juan Canary. I haven't grown it yet but recently bought some seeds. Have no idea if you could grow it in the north.
I do know that the french true cantelopes won't grow here, it's too hot. Perhaps they would do well up there? Aren't they supposed to have amazing flavor?
In th early spring, a lot of folks around here grow the MN Midget and seem to love the flavor.
For squash, my very favorite is the Japanese kabocha. Sweet, dry, smooth flesh. So sweet you can eat it with cinnamon and swear it already has the brown sugar added.
It seems to like a little cooler weather as mine suffered when it got really hot.

November 30, 2011	#1
Mudman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 910	Suggestions for melons and squash Last year I grew Hale's Best Muskmelon and it was a very good cropper for my area. It tasted and looked great, but was about the same thing I could buy at the supermarket. I am looking for something sweet and a little less common than Hale's. As for watermelon, I grew Crimson Sweet several years and last year grew Baby Doll Hybrid. The Crimson sweet was good and productive, but not the greatest tasting. The Baby Doll all, and I mean all split right down the middle before ever getting ripe. My 5 yr. old grew them because he loves watermelon and yellow. So I am looking for melon suggestions. And lastly, I have always grown Buttercup squash. I don't know if I could ever find anything better, but I am open to suggestions. __________________ Mike

December 1, 2011	#5
Mudman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 910	Polk county, near Lake Wapogasset. I am very thankful for suggestions from my fellow Cheeseheads! I would love to hear from others but it is great to hear of melon varieties that have worked near me. I have found muskmelon types to be very challenging to grow here but I finally fell like I have figured out how to extend my season and get a successful crop. __________________ Mike

December 1, 2011	#7
Mudman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NW Wisconsin Posts: 910	I live right on the same road as Sarah, we are about 7 miles from each other. Yeah, she was a great help when I was getting my pottery started. It is kind of a side gig for me right now. That will explain my handle. __________________ Mike

December 1, 2011	#8
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	We grow Athena and Goddess for muskmelons, we have grown Ambosia and Primo (got that one from Stokes) also in the past. Hales was a waste of my garden space. Didn't have one that tasted like a melon. just wet and the texture of a cantaloupe. The rest have been very good for us. The Goddess you can pick and let it sit for a few days before selling it. I t even tastes better after sitting for a few days. The primo I wasted some of it because I was waiting for the skin to turn gold and it doesn't, it stays green with a brown netting. But all were very good melons with the exception of hales. We grow all of our melons in black plastic mulch with drip tape underneath. We fertilize regularly and when the melons are about 4 weeks away from ripe we also start spraying the foliage with epsoms salt(2 Tablespoons /gal) and spray through harvest once a week.. This will bring up the brix of the melon crop. My first picking of the Goddess this year was 60 melons. I put out about 72 plants for this area. very few were bad, but those were only because I missed them in the foliage and didn't pick them soon enough. for watermelons we grow Sangria and Crimson Sweet. Those are the two that have been consistantly reliable for us. I grew blue ribbon winner this year and will not be growing it again. I also tried Jade star this year, and it did okay, but this was a really bad year for the melons all together. It was cold and wet most of the season. __________________ carolyn k

December 1, 2011	#2
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	As a market grower, I always grow Burgess Buttercup because so many people want them. But frankly I haven't found a decent variety of the original black green buttercup. I can plant out twice as many rows and get 1/4 as many squash as I will from many other varieties. Even the new expensive varieties only give 2 -3 fruit / plant on a 10ft+ sprawly plant. Personally I think Mooregold, an heirloom golden buttercup, will have better flavor and be sweeter. Yield maybe marginally better. I've grown Speckled Hound a couple of times now. It's bigger, sweeter and seems to yield better. It's not as dry tho, at least not this year. For something that grows more compact I love Festival. It's a semi-bush Sweet Dumpling type. Personal size and has that sweet fine grained texture of a Delicata. It is early and yields like crazy. For melons, we gave up on muskmelons years ago mainly because they don't have the shelf life we needed. For a nice ripe melon, if you don't sell it today, you will probably pitch it before the next market 1/2 week away. We do quite a few watermelons tho as they will keep at least 2 weeks in summer and over a month in fall when we put them in the barn if we still have them. You can't beat a nice ripe Sugar Baby for flavor for a red. Crimson Sweet is also a variety we grow and it will usually have good flavor for us. For yellows I grow Sweet Siberian and Desert King. Sweet Siberian is an heirloom I got from SSE public catalog. It can be a bit hard to figure out when it's ripe, but when you do, it's got great flavor. desert King is the biggest WM we grow. It can get to over 25 lbs but will also have plenty of 15 lbers too. It has the thickest rind so is a better shipper so will resist splitting. I have been saving Watermelon seed for several years even tho we grow all the varieties in the same field. So we also have a few unique varieties like a orange fleshed Sugar Baby. But those seeds aren't stabilized yet and will only give about 50-60 % orange so far. Just some of my experiences. Carol With the splitting you mention, it's possible you had too much untimely rain that made them split and diluted the flavor.

December 1, 2011	#4
Granite26 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Western WI Posts: 359	Delice de Table is a melon I started growing two years ago and it has a fantastic flavor! A unique watermelon that was great was Osh Kirgizia. Both of these were from SSE and winners for me here in West WI. What part of WI are you in?

December 1, 2011	#6
Granite26 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Western WI Posts: 359	Gosh we are practically neighbors I am near Eau Claire. Is that your pottery in your profile pic...are you a potter? I used to get some from a potter near Amery, Sarah Dudgeon.

December 15, 2011	#10
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	We get a lot of great melons at our local market here in AZ. One of my favorites is the yellow one called Juan Canary. I haven't grown it yet but recently bought some seeds. Have no idea if you could grow it in the north. I do know that the french true cantelopes won't grow here, it's too hot. Perhaps they would do well up there? Aren't they supposed to have amazing flavor? In th early spring, a lot of folks around here grow the MN Midget and seem to love the flavor. For squash, my very favorite is the Japanese kabocha. Sweet, dry, smooth flesh. So sweet you can eat it with cinnamon and swear it already has the brown sugar added. It seems to like a little cooler weather as mine suffered when it got really hot.