I have never had parsnips
might have to try them .
Melon Garden for 08
I havent either. Ive always thought I would roast them in the winter with other root veggies. Just never have. I dont want the baged ones that have been in the grocery store forever to be my first.
They are really good roasted with chicken or beef too. The flavors compliment each other well.
Try them with sauteed peppers!! Can't wait to get my peppers going. Got a good batch of the Nu-Mex variety. Of course they will not be as good as the ones grown in New Mexico as we do have humidity here and New Mexico has a fairly dry climate but I'll try..
Back to melons ---- Today I picked two Tigger melons as they changed color and fell off the vine when I handled them. They have a delicious fragrance! Hope they taste as good as they smell? Put them in the fridge and will have them for breakfast tomorrow of course with pictures to show you. My other melons are getting huge although for the amount of plants my production averages to one melon (watermelon) per plant. The quality is excellent for them but the lack of production I attribute to the lack of Bee pollination. They are really scarce. I see a few every now and then when prior seasons they were always present.
Tplant,
Looking forward to your results on the Tigger melons!
Parsnips have a nutty flavor reminiscent of both carrots *and* potatoes. My only choice is the specimens at the grocery store which tend to be a bit woody. I peel, then slice my parsnips. Then I steam them or boil them for a few minutes to start softening them, then switch to a pan with butter and/or olive oil in it. Ive found if I start them in the skillet with oil or butter, they never get soft enough to really enjoy. Depends if you like really crunchy veggies.
root veg's are never really any good at the grocery. You get spoiled when you grow them yourself
Yes please do let us know on the Tigger melons. I had seeds for those but never got that far this yr.
I am hoping my Carolina cross does well. I think the kids would love to see one of them. :)
Picked my Tigger melons yesterday and put them in my refrigerator for today so that they will be nice and cold. They do have a strong, pleasant, fruity scent that I find to be very pleasing..
Pretty as a picture! I put a fork next to them as a scale to show you the size. Now for the taste!!!
AAARRRGGGGHHHHH! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME AND SPACE.. However if you need a room deodorizer to make your room smell fruity than "Tigger Melon" is for you. It has very little flavor and is more bland than a cucumber. My melons are fully ripe as per the color plus they fell off the vine as soon as I picked them. NEVER AGAIN! THE SEEDS AND THE PLANTS ARE GOING INTO THE GARBAGE.
That seems to be the consensus of all who have grown it Plant. at least at the Cornell site, GW, and Plantfiles. Seems to be a souped up Plumgranny ( Queen Annes Pocket Melon)
Poor Tplant. It is a beauty of a melon though. Looked good :)
funny how the uglier the food their the ones that taste the best ? or is just me . LOL
I have heard of quenne anne it is a wonderful aroma i have heard
what else you have ripening in that EB's of your s anything else ready to taste. ?
How sad, Tplant! Such a fun-looking little melon, sorry it doesn't have any taste. Would your grandson eat it just because of the name? (My kids probably would...) I hate to see all your effort totally go to waste.
I would not waste my time with this melon as it is more of an ornamental. It is very juicy and the flesh is just right but the taste just isn't there compared to my other melons. I'm also growing Orangelo, Black Mountain, Picnic,(Golden Midget (which may be another dud for me) Sugar Bush Baby. A couple more but I can't remember their names. I am more than pleased with the quality of my remaining melons although I do not have the quantity because of the lack of bee pollonation but if I did I would have close to eighty melons as now I have twenty plus or so. They are big and honestly I don't know what I'm going to do with them? I promised my sanitation pick-up man a watermelon as he is from the islands and has treated me real well and appreciates my work. Also the construction crew working here on our school has been eyeing the melons so I guess I really won't have a problem? The vines are starting to dry up at the base so it should be a matter of days now!
I m looking forward to some of the Asian melons i got.
I also have Orangelo , i hear it is a good one.
Tplant what i did last yr with some melons i made juice and crushed them up and put them in ice cube trays . I had watermelon slushys in Jan !!
Going to try and budget in a deyhydrator too this yr.
Im sure your sanatation guy is looking forward to his melons . :) what a treat for him.
I was also going to plant mint along the melons to help with bee 's . Just a experiment. :) see if it works.
I would not plant mint as it is highly invasive and once planted in the ground it will take over. We have a juicer that I forgot about? Terriffic!!
I was working outside finishing up my rose garden but had to come in because the sun was burning me. It is that strong today. The temp may go to 95*. It is very dry today so you don't feel the sun at first but after awhile you definetly become aware of it. Started to feel weak so I called it quits with a fresh bottle of ice water. Will go back out about 5:30 pm. At that time of day it gets beautifully cooler here and we often sit out out night enjoying the weather. THAT IS WHEN I'LL FINISH MY MULCHING AND WATERING.
yes you are right on the mint . hmm i forgot how invasive it can get . Ok big pots it is next to the melons.
YIkes 95 wow. We are barely getting 67 here .
i love the warm summer nights.
go get that blender !! crank it up. :) lol
I remember making one yr watermelon leather and dried melons slices. Man those were gooooooood. Work though to do it.
I ma really looking forward to orangello. Farmer says its really good.
It is good when it gets full size, but it does not size down well. Less than 20 lbs it does not get taste and texture. A 30-40 lb melon ripened in full sun is delicious.
My experience with Orangeglo agrees with farmer. If they got 23 pounds or more they were really good. I set out an Orangeglo today along with a Sangria, Sweet Dakota Rose, Ole, Sweet Slice Plus, and a seedling saved from a great volunteer last year [perhaps an F3]?
My seedlings started on April 22nd really need setting out now. The ones from May 1st are coming along and will be ready in about 5 days.
It is a long season melon, that needs more ideal conditions than smaller earlier melons. Folks growing for market control the size of melons to some extent by varying spacing between plants. If crowded the melons will be smaller. You can do this with a Crimson Sweet and get 15-20 pound melons that taste good. Can't do it with Orangeglo. It needs space, time, and heat.
I have used squares [rectanges actually] of IRT 100 plastic under all my early melons. It warms the soil and keeps most of the rain off...very important in a chilly and wet May. These are reusable several times.
Also I use raised areas plus some hilling additionaly in cool weather. This helps a heap.
WE HAVE MELONS! Well, we have fruit setting at least, hopefully it will develope into melons. A little cantaloupe starting to form and a watermelon about the size of the end of a Q-tip with stripes and everything!
-GardenGlory's Daughter :)
christmascactus
May 20, 2008
Tplant have you tasted any of the other melons?
Okay, here's my newbie watermelon question for the day: do they do the male/female flower thing like zucchinis and pumpkins do? I'm not sure how excited I should be getting about those first (surprisingly tiny) little blooms on my plant.
They do.
Thanks, LTilton--I guess I'll just have to restrain myself until I actually see a female flower. :)
I've not tasted any ripe melons as of this time. I have cut back on watering to sweeten them up. Should be ready soon!
The melon half in the center of the picture and also the quarters to the left are a Royal Golden watermelon. Juicy and sweet but not as sweet as I would prefer. I like really sweet melons. The quality is excellent and the color is more of a pink. The outside rind is golden as per its name. Children love them for the juiceyness and color.
The smaller ones to the right are the Golden Midget which in my opinion is a waste of time.
My vines are drying up now because I'm watering them less plus some have developed Powdery Mildew but it has not affected my melons.
Starting to see my melons now as the foilage is getting sparse. I do believe the big dark green melon at the top is an Orangelo?
This message was edited May 25, 2008 2:23 PM
Got some really nice size melons coming along. Can't wait to taste Orangelo!!
I can't possibly eat all of these? And more to come...
And it all started from here! Next season I'm only going to set two melons per Eb instead of three. Wish I could open a farm stand? I could make some real good money... and it would be fun.
As I pick em and cut em I'll take more pictures and report on flavor. I won't pick any until the tendril or the vine attached to the melon dries up. I've learned from prior experience and Farmerdill's advice not to pick them till then! Growing melons is, for me anyway, a lot of fun. To see this little flower develop into a tiny melon and then to watch it grow into a thirty pound plus melon is truly exciting for me and the best part is they require little care except watering as all plants do! Most rewarding for me is to see my five year old grandson check the garden every morning to see how much bigger they got since the day before. That is where the real enjoyment is for me. To see him all excited!! Wish I were thirty years younger so that I may keep up with him?
I'm learning with my two daughters that one of the biggest pleasures of gardening for me is sharing it with them... but I can't keep up with mine either :)