thanks for the recommendations @Fusion_power Have you tried ‘kajari’ and if so, is it worth growing in your estimation? Most of those white fleshed asian melons seem to flat sweet with not much else going on. Ive heard good things about ‘kajari’ though
Kajari is a bit picky about where it will grow. Louisiana yes. Vermont probably no. You can always give it a try, but plant another variety known to produce in your climate as a backup.
Baker Creek is pretty good at hamming things up, so I generally take it with a grain of salt, but they seemed to suggest it fruited prolifically. Some people on the forum were growing it in the north Id thought. Some of the small asian melons they sell are quite small and short season. Some little russian lunchbox melons seemed appealing but most reviewers seemed to say they were sweet but flavorless.
Sweet but flavorless describes plenty of melons. I would describe Sakata Sweet as such.
Athena and Aphrodite are great hybrids I’ve grown here in MN. No splitting and great flavor and sweetness. This year I’m trying parks whopper cantaloupe alongside Athena.
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Petite Sweet was mentioned by Fusion as a good small early watermelon. My first year trying this one. Found the seed in my refrigerator late June so late planted. Here’s two photos from August 7 and August 12 of same melon. I removed the smaller one.
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It’s getting more interesting to walk through my watermelon patch/mini-orchard.
I’ll probably plan it a little differently next year. Ones on the top are Crimson Sweet, ones on the bottom are Petite Yellow. No dried tendrils/yellow field spots yet.
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Second the recommendation for “The Melon”. It’s a great resource with beautiful photography!
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For those not familiar with Amy’s book, here is a nice write up from 2019 by the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/flood-followed-by-drought-equals-a-good-year-for-melons/2019/11/04/917cd2f8-ea0a-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html
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had the first Minnesota midget tonight. was delicious. musky and sweet, softball sized. it’s more orange in real life; this is terrible kitchen lighting.
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Sangria. This one was picked early as the vine died but still very good. Happy I have a dozen or more of these out there.
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My gallery of rat attack photos unfortunately continues to grow. White Wonder was the dining choice for two nights it seems.
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So I planted melons and watermelons and all is going well in my small space. It seems my watermelons aren’t setting too much fruit this year or misshapen fruit; the bees are focused on the melons instead, and I don’t have the time to hand pollinate. I’m letting the bees do the work. I also think that this year might not be a watermelon one: May and June were gloomy and nights have been in the high 60s since the heat wave arrived. The nights and the morning are sometimes cloudy as well.
I actually planted some and new varieties from the list I posted: Anne Arundel was added (seeds were from Southern Seed Exposure). The difficulty I’m having is knowing which is which. I am horrible at labeling or drawing a plot of my garden. Also, I am not sure how to gauge ripeness for Casaba type melons. Anyone have any suggestions? Or do they slip from the vine?
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I’ve eaten about 10 watermelons so far and given away about 8 more. About 30 more are in the garden with 4 or 5 ripe. I’ll have to pull up the vines in about a week when female flowers show up on the Ledmon watermelons.
Which brings me to an observation. I save seed from things I really like. When I saved seed of the Moon & Starless watermelon several years ago, it was because flavor and sweetness were excellent. I’ve saved a few thousand seed so far and will save more.
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I always grow many varieties a year, so seed saving isn’t practical for me and growing some hybrids now too.
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My first watermelon of the season looks ripe but I am waiting an extra week to be sure since its for seed. Got some others I will check by the weekend.
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