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| From left, Lambkin, Vert Grimpant and Uzbek. Each one is about average size, with the V.G. about the size of a large softball. |
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| Vert Grimpant in the flesh. |
I harvested a bunch of Lambkin melons off several plants. It seems the Lambkin is either boom or bust. Most of the plants had two or three full-size melons, while one totally healthy plant produced only one small melon. These are great storage melons in the the refrigerator. I harvested all of my melons by the third week of September, but didn't eat the last Lambkin until November. I will grow this variety again. Best melon ever.
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| Two football size Lambkin melons on the vine just before harvest. The melons do not slip, but the dark green skin becomes mottled with yellow when ripe. |
Uzbek was another first-timer this year. This was a difficult variety to judge ripeness. Some of the melons yellowed as they ripened, while others stayed mostly green. The amount of netting varied considerably, too. The plants were not very productive, but the specimens that were produced were quite exquisite. The flavor is lightly sweet, but can be bland if harvested too early. The flesh turns woody if harvested too late. Definitely a labor-intensive variety, but worth the time.
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| Uzbek flesh is nearly white. |
I grew some Ananas D'Amerique a Chair Verte melons because I got a free packet seeds from the seed house where I purchased the Uzbek and Vert Grimpant seeds. Thank you, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This was an unpredictable variety in terms of production. A normal melon, I think, is heavily netted and about the size of a small volleyball, but I had a few that were significantly smaller and one that was larger without much netting. By the time I harvested this variety, I was experiencing melon burn out, so I'm an unreliable source as to its quality. The flesh seemed similar to Vert Grimpant both in color and flavor, but I had eaten a lot of Vert Grimpant melons by then and my taste buds might have been on auto pilot. Like Uzbek, I will have to grow this variety again to better understand and appreciate it.
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| Two not of a kind. These Ananas D'Amerique a Chair Verte melons came from different plants. The one on the right is probably the normal size. The one on the left is obviously larger, with less netting. It turned yellow instead of tan. On the right side, there are signs of rot, which meant harvest it or lose it. This one ended up as raccoon food. |
I had only a couple decent plant starts for Charentais and didn't get any full size melons. Part of the problem was I allowed several Hopi red-dye amaranth plants to grow from volunteers near where I planted some of the melons and they eventually blocked out a lot of sun. This also affected production of some of the other varieties, but I had such heavy production from the plants that grew in full sun that it didn't matter.
There was a nice row of Golden Crispy melon plants that suffered a massive infestation of spotted cucumber beetle. The odd thing was the insects didn't bother the other melon varieties growing close by. I finally eradicated the beetles, but production seemed to suffer, with only a few quality melons growing to the size and shape of a large pear. The flavor was wanting. I will not grow this variety again, unless it is to drive pests away from other varieties.
Epilogue: I attempted to grow watermelons in a backyard raised bed, but failed again for the second straight year. The big-A maple tree sent tentacle roots into the raised bed, busting through the fibrous material I used to line the bottom of the bed. Next year, if I accept the mission, I will try heavyweight black plastic at the bottom, which means digging out a yard of soil again, putting in the plastic and refilling the hole. Fun times.
