Nearly Done

I planted half of my mix melon starts yesterday and today at my community garden plot. It has been overcast, drizzly and humid the past couple of days, with more of the same forecast for the next day or two before warmer, dryer weather arrives. Hopefully, the melons will have a few days of mild weather to establish themselves, then take off when it warms up.

I am trying five varieties of melons this year:

• Prescott Fond Blanc (planted 6/28/12)
• Korean Star (planted 6/28/12)
• Lambkin (planted 6/29/12)
• Charentais
• Tigger

The Lambkins are an experiment this year. I saved seed from last year and generated some starts from the seed this year. Lambkin is already a hybrid, and last year's plants were grown in an open pollinated environment, so who knows what they crossbred with. 

Progeny of hybrids are not supposed to do well, or at least not produce fruit as flavorful as the parent plant. I think that is an old wives tale. I grew squash last year from seed cultivated from store-bought Delicata squash. Seed from a single fruit produced both Delicata and dumpling squash plants. The fruit from those plants tasted fine to me. That experience converted me from a squash ignorer to a squash liker.

The conversion to squash lover is still pending ... or not.