Christie--don't know why on hills. I don't grow melons but have grown cucumbers on hills and on the flat and I can't tell a difference. Not much help am I? (GRIN)

I am 73 years old and have gardened since I was 25 . My understanding of a 'hill' of something just means it is planted in a group ...like 12 cucumber seeds in a one foot wide circle . Then you thin it out to 4-6 seeds per 'hill' . Squash is frequently planted this way .

Marian

Are you referring to watermelon or all melon. We didn't plant any this year but normally we plant cantaloupe along a fenced area with a welded wire support. We train the vines to the wire support and put slings under the melons as they ripen. It not only allows the vines to grow on minimal space but also keeps the melons off the ground and protects them from being eaten by the wild life. The melons have reached a weight of up to 6 pounds. With only 3 vines we've had more melons than the 2 of us could consume. We didn't plant there this year because we decided to use the wire to support boysenberry vines. It worked well for that too. EP

Nope, it was real hills when I was gardening with my grandpa as a kid. I suspect this has two meanings depending on how old you are. I agree with Marian2 on one meaning...we still say hill of corn and nobody made a hill before planting corn, unless it was the Indians with their buried fish. However, my grandpa learned to garden in the 1800s, and fertilization was a whole nother story back then. We would dig out a 2' to 2.5' diameter hole in the garden...fill it with cow manure and put back enough soil to raise it about 5 inches above the manure. It really was a hill, but only because of all the poop we put in the hole under it. I kept that up for years as long as I had manure to put in the holes. Now I plant in a row and thin...takes up less space, anyway.

How about a sweet potato ridge? Anyone have to build one of those?

I found a discussion on "hills" in the Vegetable Gardening forum that was interesting. I haven't had to worry about TOO MUCH rain and it's PLENTY warm enough so I think I'll stick to flat farming. lol

Ooops - forgot the link. The heat must be getting to me. : )

Here is a link that might be useful: Hills - Vegetable Gardening Forum

Christie, interesting comments on that link. The lady who called holes hills reminded me of a piece I read long ago about dry country gardening. The idea was to dig out a below level garden to keep hot dry winds off the young plants and to catch rain water. I believe New Mexico was mentioned...it had to be sandy soil or you would have a lake when the rains come.

When we first cleared the trees and brush off this old homestead garden area after 40 years of abandonment, we had to shallow till and rake the 4 inches of soil into French Intensive style raised beds. No sides...just pulled the soil up into planting areas about 3 feet wide leaving a walking path in between. Once the tree/brush roots had decomposed after 3 - 4 years of tilling with a big Troybilt horse, we were able to get back to "normal". After reading that link, I would say normal is any bodies guess. ;O)