My Favorite Varieties - 2015 Summer Garden

Romanesco zucchini

Variety is the spice of life, right? With that in mind, I thought I would share with you my favorite varieties from our summer garden. I tried several new varieties this year and many of them were hits! Maybe you will find something new to try next year.

I think the most shocking winner for me was the Romaneso zucchini. I am not a lover of zucchini, but this type has won me over with its delicately crisp texture and sweet flavor. Everyone who tried it said the same thing, "This is the best zucchini I've ever tasted." With raised longitudinal ridges, it creates beautiful gear-shaped slices. I love it lightly sauteed in butter and sprinkled with tarragon.

The tomatoes always steal the show in the summer garden. I grew 12 varieties and my favorite was Black Krim. This is a hearty, robust, flavorful tomato.

Black Krim tomato

One look at the deep color and you can just imagine the rich complex flavor. It tastes how it looks.

Black Krim tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato is light and fruity. This was my most prolific grower. The fruit is incredibly sweet, and when the sun hits it the bright orange color glows. It has a pink blush at the bottom too, making it even prettier.

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

Pineapple Hawaiian tomato

What a treat it was to share my Black Krim and Pineapple Hawaiian with my dear friend, Jane, on our little get away to Ventura Beach. This is why we put up with the traffic to live in L.A. One hour in the car and we are at the beach, at the ski resort in the mountains, in the desert, or in farm country.

The tomatoes were fabulous with pita chips and red pepper hummus, topped with fresh tarragon and basil.

When I bit into my first Red Pear Abruzzese tomato, it finally made sense why tomatoes are considered a fruit. By far the sweetest tomato I have ever eaten, this one is like candy.

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Red Pear Abruzzese tomato

Out of the 12 pepper varieties I planted, my favorite are these Italian heirlooms. Quadrato Rosso D' Asti is a red sweet pepper which is deliciously flavorful with a slightly spicy finish.

Quadrato Rosso D' Asti bell pepper

Its yellow cousin is Quadrato Giallo D' Asti. Isn't it beautiful? It's also crisp, sweet and tasty.

Quadrato Giallo D' Asti bell pepper

This little melon is not much to look at, but it is fantastic. Sakata's Asian Melon is a small crisp melon that is intensely sweet with a hint of cucumber flavor. I will grow this one every year.

Prosperosa eggplant is stunning with its embre effect. The plant was a prolific producer and its upright growth habit takes less room than my spreading Kamo eggplant. 

I purchased all of my seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds. (I am not compensated by them in any way, I am just a customer.) One thing I like about them is they have collections of seeds which makes trying new varieties easy. This bush bean collection was just fabulous. They call it "Annie's Rainbow Beans" and it contains Contender, Golden Wax, Royal Burgundy, and Dragon's Tongue. 

And finally there are the Cosse Violetta pole beans. With flowers this pretty, and pods that are striped then mature to a deep violet, these are a stunning (and delicious) addition to the summer garden.

I hope you are inspired to try a new variety next year. Now I am off to start looking through seed catalogues for unusual additions to try in my winter garden. 

Oh, the possibilities!

Banana Melon

When I read about banana melons, I was excited to try a new variety especially since the description called it incredibly sweet with a tropical fruit scent. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. The flavor of my banana melon was more delicate than a cantaloupe, definitely less flavorful than I hoped. 

The fruit smelled deliciously sweet and since it was cracked a little by the stem, I harvested it. Cutting into it revealed a beautiful orange fruit with a relatively thin rind, and it was very juicy so I thought it would be fabulous.

Don't get me wrong, it was good...but I had hoped for amazing. I think it may have been harvested a little early. I'm hoping the vine will produce another one so I can see if leaving it on the vine longer will boost the flavor.

To be honest, my melon patch is not at its best this year. My production is down, partly due to our drought and restrictions on watering. The other melons (cantaloupe, Crenshaw, Sakata's Asian, and honeydew) have been delicious, but not at plentiful as in years past.

At this point, I don't think the banana melon will make a repeat appearance in my garden next year unless the next one blows me away. Now the Crenshaw, that's another story. It will be in my garden every year. That's a melon that will have you coming back for more!

Sakata's Asian Melon

Imagine a sweet melon that is crispy like the crunchiest cucumber...that's Sakata's Asian melon. It even has a hint of cucumber flavor, so you could imagine it's like a cross between a melon and a cucumber. However you think of it, you must try it.

This heirloom has been grown in Asia for thousands of years. The fruit is small, only reaching the size of a soft ball. The thin rind is smooth and pale yellow when ripe. Some people say the skin is edible, but we eat them as we do other melons and remove the rind and seeds. 

I read somewhere that they taste best if left in the refrigerator for a week after harvest so that is what we do. I'm not sure if that is necessary or not, but I can assure you that the flavor is incredibly sweet, and the crispy texture makes these a refreshing summer treat! 

Giving Melons Room to Grow

My dilemma: How to contain the 6 melon varieties in my small space and maximize my yields? I decided to place a row of fencing across the middle of the bed to make the vines climb up and over as they spread into the empty zone. This will allow the vines to grow longer in the same amount of space. Longer vines will make more melons and I can hardly wait for the harvest!

This year I planted my favorites (Hale's Best cantaloupe, Honeydew, and Crenshaw) and some new varieties (Saskata's Asian melon, banana melon and Sugar Baby watermelon). I have pruned the vines to train them to grow from left to right in this photo. 

They follow the sun so they want to grow that direction, so that is why they are planted to the left. That allows room for them to spread. The problem is, the space is small. By going vertically, I hope to reduce the crowding and promote better air circulation. This will hopefully help with the mildew that will be coming soon. 

Last year my melons were amazing. They grew up an over my rabbit fencing that surrounds my garden. They grew beautifully suspended by the fence, so I know the rabbit fencing is strong enough if it is supported every four feet by a metal "T" stakes. 

I am also training the vines to climb the perimeter fence by poking the escaped vines back through the fence. My goal is to try to arrange the vines so that the flowers are on the inside of the fence. We definitely want the melons forming on the inside or my dad's dog will help herself to them like last year.

Vines escaping through the fence.

Vines trained to grow up the fence from the inside. I carefully place the tendrils in contact with the wire to encourage them to grab a hold.

There are lots of flowers blooming, and with this obstacle to climb there is plenty of room for the melons to grow.

Fingers crossed!

Honeydew Melon in Coconut Milk - Delicious

You could say we have had more than our share of melon this summer. Having an abundance of melons led me to search for new recipes. Honeydew melon in coconut milk has become a favorite. It's a Thai version of strawberries and cream and it is divine.

It could use a little garnish, but it's eaten so quickly no one cares how it looks, kind of like a chocolate chip cookie that falls apart coming out of the oven.

1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk

3 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice, or to taste

1 large honeydew melon, chilled

Stir together coconut milk, sugar and lime juice in a small metal bowl until the sugar dissolves. Put ice and water into a larger bowl then set the metal bowl into the ice water. Chill, stirring occasionally, until cold, approximately 6 min. 

Cut the melon in half, discard the seeds. Scoop melon into balls using a melon ball cutter or cut into small cubes.

Divide the melon into serving dishes and pour the coconut mixture over the melon.  

This recipe is from Gourmet Today, edited by Ruth Reichl. 

It's Melon Time!

Step into my backyard and the scent hits you. It's melon time. This is the year of the melon in my little garden. So far we have harvested 12 honeydews, 7 cantaloupes and 2 Crenshaws. Today I counted 23 more on the vine that are fist-sized or larger. Many more thumb-sized ones are scattered about. That's amazing to me considering they are grown in one 

4 ft x 12 ft bed with a spread of about 14 ft x 14 ft.

I am growing 3 types of melons (honeydew, Crenshaw and cantaloupe). They are planted in four mounds and the mounds were planted in succession starting in March. You can see the melon mounds on the right side of the bed, planted next to the strawberries and parsley. Each mound has a different variety of melon and the soaker hose is looped over each mound. For details on how/when I planted the melons, you can read about it here.

The melon bed is next to an empty area so the vines have room to grow. Here are some pictures from May. The melons are in the foreground on the right, spilling into the empty area.

May 23, 2014

May 30, 2014

Here are the melons in July.

They have filled the empty area and are climbing up and through the little fence and onto the pavement. My dad's dog came to visit and helped herself to 4 cantaloupes that were growing on the pavement so I added a little fence to keep her out and the melons safe.

Now I'm training the vines to climb that new fence. Next year I think I'll run fencing down the middle of my melon bed and train them vertically. 

I have been spraying them weekly with Epsom salts to help with chlorosis (1-2 Tbsp per gallon of water). I sprayed with soapy water when the aphids were bad last month (1 tsp per gallon of water). A few weeks ago I found some powder mildew on one section so I removed the affected leaves and started spraying every 10 days with baking soda which has really worked 

(1 Tbsp per gallon of water). The mildew is gone. I have leaf miners but haven't done anything to try to control them. They are happily tunneling through the leaves but their activity has seemed to slow down lately. I have been feeding the melons only with compost tea although I added compost before I sowed the seeds. Mine are watered deeply by soaker hose every other day. 

We have been eating melons everyday. I'll share some ideas later for tasty melon treats.

For now, here are some more pictures.

Cantaloupe 

Cantaloupe

Honeydew

Honeydew

Crenshaw

Crenshaw

Cheerful blossom

Furry baby melon

Tendril

I think I'll go have some frozen melon slices...such a refreshing treat on a hot summer day!

Cantaloupe Cooler - Agua de Melon

One of the reasons I love my husband is he brings me things like this. It's melon water and it's fresh, light, sweet, and oh so delicious. And on top of that, it's easy and uses the seeds of the melon which are usually discarded.

This recipe is from Gourmet Today by Ruth Reichl. This cookbook is well-used in our home, a favorite for sure.

1 medium cantaloupe 

1/3 cup sugar, or to taste (we use 1/4 cup or less)

3 cups very cold water

ice cubes (optional)

Cut cantaloupe in half and scoop out the seeds with the juice and put it in a blender. Use the fruit for another purpose. Add the sugar and 2 cups of the cold water and blend on high for 1 minute. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve and into a pitcher. Press on the solids to squeeze out more juice, then discard the solids. Stir in the remaining 1 cup water. Serve chilled or over ice.  

Sublime! 

But I'm thinking rum would be a nice addition:)

Melon Mayhem

It's melon mayhem, muskmelon madness.

As melons will, mine have taken over, spilling over and through the fence and onto the cement. Who am I to stop them? 

Today I counted 13 honeydew melons,

 7 cantaloupes (muskmelons), 

7 Crenshaw melons (my favorite),

 and many fury baby melons too young to identify.

I can hardly wait for them to ripen. It is a daily joy to check them. I have my eye on one honeydew I am certain will be ready soon. Patience is a gardener's challenge!

I just read that honeydew melons lose their fur when they are ripe. I took a closer look and indeed the immature ones are fury.

Can you see the tiny hairs? 

While the most ripe one is clean shaven.

Although it is hairless, I don't smell that fruity scent that tells me this beauty is ready to be picked.

I planted my melons in 4 mounds in one of my beds. As suggested on the seed packet, I made an elevated mound and planted 5-6 seeds in each mound. Almost all of them germinated and grew. Unfortunately I didn't thin them as recommended which contributed to them being so crowded. That's a newbie mistake, I will know better next year.

You can see the melon mounds in this picture taken in May. The soaker hose is looped over each mound. (There are strawberries and parsley planted to the left of them in the bed). I planted them in succession to prolong my harvest.  

From top to bottom they are: 

cantaloupe planted on 05-05-14 (They have not germinated in this photo.)

crenshaw planted on 03-30-14

honeydew planted on 03-01-14 (the largest plants)

and at the bottom are cantaloupe planted on 03-20-14.

Melon mounds planted in succession.
May 8, 2014

It astounds me how rapidly they grow. Here they are a couple of weeks later, spilling over onto the empty area next to the bed.

May 23, 2014

And today my cup runneth over.

Melon patch on July 18, 2014.

When you plant your melons, consider that the vines will grow toward the sun. I chose that spot to plant them because there was room for them to spill onto the empty area. Next year I will plant them in another bed which will not be as convenient, but rotating crops is important to keep yields high.

It is not all laughs and giggles in my melon patch, oh no. We have issues. Lots of issues.

One look from this angle and you can see problems in the middle, the leaves are looking a bit yellow.

A closer look tells a tale of mayhem.

HELP!!!

It's a multitude of problems including aphids, chlorosis, powder mildew, leaf miners of some sort, and who knows what else. There's a battle going on and I'm losing. I have tried Neem oil which burned the leaves, soapy water which helps somewhat with the aphids, Epsom salts which definitely has helped the chlorosis (yellowing leaves). Despite how pitiful some areas are, the fruit is growing.

I just hope the fruit matures before the war is lost and the vines die. Fingers crossed!