Whoops, I forgot a couple of melons.

Tigger
Casaba
Zolotistaya

Bonnie, can you grow melons where you are? I'm just a few hundred feet too high, and the nights are too cold or something - they barely ripen, and most don't.

That said, I grew charantais during the nasty hot summers of 02 and 03 and they were fabulous. But I tried again 3 other years, and they never ripened, and there were bears around, so I ended up composting them.

Minnesota midget worked the one year I tried it.

Signed, the melon-challenged.

David, last year was my first to try, and I got them in late, but I had two ripen before the first frost, so I'm hoping if I get them planted early enough, I'll get a few. Plus, all of the ones I'll be growing are in the 1 - 3 lb. range, and I'm guessing that a smaller melon will ripen sooner? Hope so anyway.

What's your elevation? Mine is ~ 5,650.

We're at 6,400. Sou-sou west and 800 feet down, they grow just fine, even though its only 15 miles away.

Oh, goody! It sounds like I may have a chance of getting a few ripe ones.

Now is there anyone that has grown some of these, and can tell me which ones are worth the precious garden space? I know a lot of you grow cucumbers, and I can't be the only melon grower around here!

Bonnie

I'm going to try Sugar Baby watermelons again this year. I got so close with them last year.

I'm going to grow Green Dragon Burpless (again) and National Pickling cucumbers this year.

Sorry, I'm not much help with your dilemma...

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

Haven't tried all of the cukes. But the Homemade and National produced well for me several years. Also the burpless from several different companies is one we really like - a Chinese one and Burpees one I think. The lemon cuke takes about 2 weeks longer to ripen for me. I used the last of the ones last year in dill pickles. Looked different but tasted the same. The only melon that I have had ripen for me is the Minnesota Midget. They were about the size of a softball so enough for 1 person. 2 years ago it was hot enough that I probably could have grown others but I didn't plant any that year!

Bonnie -- where did you get the Kazachka seeds, if you don't mind my asking? I'm on a quest to find a similar melon variety grown in Bukhara, as it was one of the best I've ever eaten.

All the cucurbits I had last year did extremely well until the hail hit -- and even then they continued to fruit, albeit in bizzare shapes. The Armenians were great salad additions, if I didn't let them grow too big. Light and super crunchy!

I came back and reread your list, Bonnie. It doesn't look like you got a whole lot of encouragement on those melons. I, also, didn't turn into a Minnesota Midget grower after trying that one. Here's 2 ideas from the list that may help.

Hearts of Gold were once a commercially grown cantaloupe in these parts. This amazes me since the Umatilla Oregon area is close has so many melons but, apparently, there was enuf of a local demand that these short-season heirloom melons could be grown profitably. They are a bit quick to reach the over-ripe stage but had a good flavor, as I remember them. I was just a Hearts of Gold consumer 40 years ago  not a grower.

Rocky Fords are from your own state of Colorado but I believe they were developed on the eastside.

As you may remember, I've grown (and praised) Honey Girl Hybrid Charentais melons but it is so much earlier than the other Charentais varieties that I'm afraid to try those. My abysmal transplanting season last year was Providence finally catching up to me on that one, and others.

That season, makes me reluctant to suggest even cuke varieties but I really think you should be okay with those. All my cukes survived last May/June but none performed well over the course of the season. Nevertheless, I did have some Lemon Cukes. I've grown Straight 8's without a hitch and White Wonders just fine over several years. White Wonders were replaced in 'o8 by White Star, which didn't produce wonderfully but I'm giving it another chance in 'o9.

. . . hope this helps a little.

digitS'

Thanks, Digit! Well, I know that the Rocky Ford melons we get here in the summer, aren't green fleshed, but orange, and are grown in the Palisade area, which is 75 miles west of here, and a few degrees warmer than us.

In spite of a lack of recommendations, I've come up with a tentative list.

Cukes:
County Fair
Lemon and/or Poona Kheera or White Wonder
Homemade Pickles
Diva

Melons:
Hearts of Gold
Sleeping Beauty
Swan Lake
Tigger

I've still got another month before I can plant them, so those lists aren't final until the seeds are in the dirt.

Bonnie

I wasn't impressed with the lemon. I thought they were rather bland (guess I should have listened to digit last year). That said, I didn't get very many of either the lemon or the russian variety so I might try the same ones in a different location, but I'm limited on space options. I did get 5 sugar babies, but not until mid-october. I ended up using them in an attempt to make watermelon rind pickles. They taste great, but the rind is too thin for that application.

Jen

I agree with Dafy, Bonnie! Lemon was one of the cukes I grew the first year I had my veggie garden here, and I wasn't at all impressed with it. For the very limited space you (say you) have, I recommend going with something else.

Skybird

P.S. Don't anybody believe Bonnie that she doesn't have any room. She has a great big yard! Oh, how I wish mine was anywhere near as big as hers. You need to post a pic of your house from out in the middle of the road sometime, Bonnie, so everybody else can see what I've seen! And then there's that BIG empty lot next to you, which, with the economy the way it is, isn't gonna be built on for at least a couple years. Back in IL, my brother has 25 acres, and several of the "typical lot size" neighbors that border his property have turned over plots of his land and are growing veggies there---and he LIVES there! They can't go too far because the center of the land is farmed every year, but around the edges it's just left to go to weeds. So if they can do that, you can certainly stick some pumpkins and cukes and other "viney" type things in right along the side of your fence. You've got lots of room, girl! :-)

A couple of years ago (and prior), we had good cuke-growing weather thru the season(s). With the right conditions, cucumbers are easy to grow and those vines can be very, very productive.

Off we'd go with coolers full of cukes to the farmers' market. We had one customer who would come just about every marketday to buy lemon cukes - only lemon cukes and a dozen at a time. We liked this guy and he liked our lemon cukes.

Taste is subjective. I'm trying those Poona Kheera cukes this year. I hate the looks of them but I'll get past that distaste for the brown skin if what's inside is worth eating. It will be a new experience.

My suggestion is to not deny yourself any experience with veggies. I really wanted to try Diva (a hoity-toity Beit Alpha type) last year. Well, try it I did. I had one cuke out of the hill of 3 puny plants. No cukes did well in "Melon Killer 'o8" but that was a disappointment.

Lemon cukes can quickly get past prime condition. My policy is that if it looks like a lemon - throw it away. Just before . . . just that first hint of yellow, that's the moment to harvest.

I once had a garden in a vacant lot across the alley from my home at the time. The owner lived in another town but I tracked him down thru the courthouse and telephone book. It was awfully easy to go out my backgate, run a hose across the alley, and care for that garden. There were some piles of dirt where a dozer had (almost) leveled the lot and an apricot tree. I turned most of the lot into a nice garden, made apricot jam and sent the owner 2 pints every year we were there.

d'S'

Okay, Skybird, I'll rephrase that ... I'm running out of spaces that aren't already covered in sod. I do think DH is coming around a bit though. The little corner bed I just finished in the backyard was actually HIS idea. Of course, I was out there with a shovel before the words had completely left his mouth, so he wouldn't have a chance to change his mind, LOL!

Well, the descriptions of the lemon cuke I have read sure sound better than the experiences you guys describe, so maybe it's between Poona Kheera, and White Wonder. Or if they don't start digging a foundation on the empty lot next door in the next 30 days, I could try the lemon over there. I'm definitely going to plant some sunflowers along the outside of the backyard fence too. Maybe even a pumpkin or two ...

Bonnie