I dried it one year only. I thought it tasted like dried squash. Very unappetizing. Took a long time to dehydrate and it all ended up in the compost. Yucky. 
…but that was just my experience. Others may have had success and liked it.
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Oranglo and Georgia rattlesnake; oranglo a little overripe makes good Agua Fresca when cell walls have broken down
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Here’s a Bradford grown in southeast Virginia. It had over 12 inches of rain throughout August so grew very big until I picked it yesterday. A critter got into the rind a week before I picked it but not deep enough to cause any rot. That is reason for black duct tape on bottom. I also sprayed it with pepper spray to keep them away. 42.8 lbs with Brix of 12.9. Excellent flavor that lingered pleasantly on my palate. First year growing these. Will definitely be my main melon next year but will give it more space as it made tremendously long vine growth.
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Definitely Bradford. Has all the traits.
Heads up that there is quite a bit of diversity in the Bradford watermelons I grew this year. Roughly 50% of the watermelons had better flesh characteristics. Of those, two watermelons were exceptionally good flavored. I saved seed from those two separately so I can grow them out in the future. If you need some seed for genetic diversity, let me know.
Not only do the vines get up to 30 feet long, they continue producing watermelons so long as the vines are able to support them. I’m still picking ripe melons - albeit smaller than during the main season.
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I let mine go a bit too much. Turned into moonshine 
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The weather cooperated this year…no hail.
We grew Georgia Rattlesnake and Hales Best Jumbo canteloupe.
We have been enjoying watermelons for about a week now from plants that were seed sown about the first week of June.
Here is the little one with a 46 lb melon.
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I am waiting on my Blacktail Mountain patch to come in that was planted July 15. Weighed the biggest one yesterday. 10.6 pounds with fully green tendril. I had 4.5 inches of rain four days ago and 4 inches the week before so they are all pumped up with water.
First year trying these and they were planted into a mowed down cover crop of rye that had matured to seed in late June. Right now the vines extend out 8 or more feet in all directions. I turned them earlier to stay out of where I planted my collards and broccoli but now they have headed back into them. I fertilized with a small amount of 5-10-30 at planting. Then top dressed with calcium nitrate at first bloom. Sprayed early for cucumber beetles and 2 sprays of Daconil. I will spray once more as we don’t usually get a frost until close to Halloween.
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I ordered my watermelon seeds for next year from a couple of places. Reimer seeds has up on their website front page that people should go ahead and order seeds in general now for next year as Covid has affected some suppliers and some offerings may not be in stock in 2021.
Right now I am at 21 varieties and still need to get a couple more to fill out my list. In 2019 I did a huge Okra trial. This year the garden was more for the family in case the Covid thing got really bad. So next year back to planting a lot of one thing. Which will be watermelons!
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I’d love to hear your comments re okra varieties. I tend to like Cowhorn because it stays tender so long and Lee because it is so compact. This year I crossed them to see if I can stabilize a compact stay tender okra.
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Okra wise I like Louisiana Green Velvet as it can get long and tender but it gets 7 feet tall in a hurry. Sea Island Red for the tender slim pods and it branches well for me under 6 feet. Lastly Bradford Okra from same place as the watermelon. It is the largest diameter of any I have grown and it can get to 8 inches long without getting woody and not overly tall.
Disappointing the most out of 26 varieties were Burmese and Gold Coast. Did not produce enough quantity compared to the average.
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I had similar problems growing Burmese several years ago. Louisiana Green Velvet is decent but IMO was not as good as Jing Orange or Granny Franklin. I’ve grown several other varieties and have a bunch more to grow next year. Here are a few pics for reference.
This is my strain of Cowhorn. I am 6’2" tall and was holding my camera up as high as I could reach to take a picture of the top 4 ft of this 12 ft tall plant. http://www.selectedplants.com/gardenphotos/Okra.pods.jpg
And this is a picture of Cowhorn just as it starts really producing good about 5 feet tall. http://www.selectedplants.com/gardenphotos/okra.cowhorn.jpg
This is a picture of African okra showing the luxuriant foliage. It is incredibly spiny! http://www.selectedplants.com/gardenphotos/okra.african.jpg
And here is Burmese showing small plants with very few pods of okra. http://www.selectedplants.com/gardenphotos/okra.burmese.jpg
Sorry for the side trip on Okra folks, but it is one of my favorite vegetables. I’ve grown at least 40 varieties over the years.
Here is a list with many that I have grown: African, Alabama Red, Alice Elliot, Beck’s Big Buck, Burgundy, Burmese, Clemson Spineless, Cowhorn, Dwarf Lee, Emerald, Evertender, Granny Franklin (family heirloom), Jing Orange, Lightning, Louisiana Green Velvet, Mammoth, Pentagreen, Perkins Long Pod, Red River, Stewart’s Zeebest, Texas Longhorn, White Velvet
I should provide background for Granny Franklin. This was my ex-wife’s family heirloom okra. It is the most multipurpose okra that I have grown. It can be fried, stewed, steamed, boiled, baked, stuffed, and pickled and tastes good to excellent in all of them. Very few okra varieties make really good pickled okra. When I first sent Granny Franklin to Sandhill several years ago, Glenn grew it and gave a bucket to friends from the deep south. Their comment was that it was okra the way okra was supposed to taste.
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Wow, that’s an impressive looking Cowhorn. My seed didn’t sprout when I tried it. I will have to make sure I grow it next year.
I do love okra and it’s the most trouble free plant in my garden.
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More trouble in my patch. It’s offical critters love Bradford watermelons. They haven’t touched Blacktail Mountain yet so I guess not close enough to being ripe yet.
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What kind of critter do you think it is ?
I seldom have anything bother watermelons here.
I am guessing its a rat. There was a pile of rind that looked like wood shavings so it was gnawing down to the pink flesh. The one with all the holes was just a hollow shell with all the seeds and flesh all gone.
My patch is next to a corn field so I guess they enjoy getting dessert at night after spending the day in the corn field safe from the hawks. I hear an owl at night in my garden but so far he hasn’t helped with rodent patrol.
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Anyone grown Leopard watermelon? Sounds interesting with fact that the rind color change signals maturity. I ordered a 100 seeds so I will let you know next year.
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How was the Hime Kansen?
