Grow Sweet Melons for a Cool Summer Treat!

Summer is coming fast, and there is nothing better than sweet, cool fruit right off the vine. I remember growing up here in South Carolina, my great grandfather would hoist a huge ripe watermelon from his garden and split it on the picnic table under the apple tree next to his garden. Every white t-shirt I owned had a red stain around the neck.

Melons are some of the easiest and quickest fruits to grow, making them one of the few fruits that give you a strong return the same year you plant them.

A few old-timer hints about melons:

• Don't move the vines while they are growing. Melon foliage grows slowly towards the light, and if moved, it may set back the fruiting process, leaving you with smaller melons.
• If you are trying to grow record-sized melons, remove a few from the vine to allow your plant to focus on fewer fruits.
• (This one is a little more controversial) If you have a noticeable problem with your melons splitting open towards the end of the season or after a strong rain, you might want to cut about half-way through the stem to hinder the flow of sap to the fruit. Of course, we always just assumed that splitting was nature's way of saying, "You deserve a break, go ahead and eat this one."

Park Seed has a wonderful selection of beautiful, colorful, tasty melons this spring. The big favorite among the staff here is Melon Lambkin, which is also an AAS Vegetable Award Winner! My personal favorite is Watermelon Yellow Crunch, sweet, crisp, and up to 20 pounds apiece, just the way I like 'em.