Gardening 'blog

Our Tiny Little Minds ^ | December 4, 2006 | yours truly, et al

[SunkenCiv]

A melon bred to grow in clay soils? Sounds perfect for the old homestead.

http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-9944.html

EdlinUser
July 30th, 2008, 09:15 PM

Melons for heavy, acidic soil?

Answer: Pike.
Oh, no, not another order to Baker Creek this year.:( They have it, as does the wonderful Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html). They describe it as: (Orange flesh) 85 days, from transplant. [Developed about 1935 by Aaron Pike of the seed firm Pike and Young in Monmouth, Oregon.] Pure seed stock of this full-flavored heirloom was generously supplied to Southern Exposure by the niece of Aaron Pike who furnished details of this melon’s history. The ‘Pike’ melon was developed from a cross between ‘Hearts of Gold’ and ‘Spear’. It was specifically bred and selected for production on unirrigated clay soil. Among its outstanding features are its hardiness, disease resistance, yield potential, and excellent flavor. In flavor it is superior to ‘Spear’ and on a par with ‘Saticoy’. The heavily netted oblong fruits average 3 lbs. on un-irrigated clay soil, and 7 lbs. on well-irrigated melon soil. Flesh is firmer when grown on clay soil.

http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-American/Pike
http://www.southernexposure.com/productlist/prods/52108.html

-zatta melon-

http://www.rohrerseeds.com/store/item.asp?id=SI03500
http://www.localharvest.org/melon-seeds-zatta-C10329
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3981646
http://www.history.org/history/cwland/resrch6.cfm#3b1b

-other melon pages-

http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-American
http://www.seedsavers.org/Items.aspx?search=melon http://www.southernexposure.com/productlist/MUSK.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1579652131/sunkencivilizati
(cob melon mentioned) http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV093
(cob not quite pictured) http://gordonlakehomestead.ca/GLveg.html
http://seedsaversyb.dreamhosters.com/pt_search.php?PlantType=MELON

http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-European/Petit-Gris-de-Rennes
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-American/Planters-Jumbo
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-European/Delice-De-La-Table
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=PS15413
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-European/dAlger
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-American/Green-Nutmeg
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Melons-European/Valencia-Winter-Melon

-stuffer tomato varieties-

http://www.reimerseeds.com/stuffer-tomato_1091.aspx
https://www.securewebexchange.com/agrestalseeds.com/securestore/product_details.asp?id=422

-different eggplants-

http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=S10812
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=PS14146

-garden seeds (all kinds)-

http://www.heritageharvestseed.com/pages/catalogueindex.html

-resources-

http://www.gardenstew.com/forum-28.html
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/
http://davesgarden.com/products/gbw/

[SunkenCiv]

-zatta-

http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/ME08/ME08__Melon_Zatta.html

-same site, their scorzonera-

http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/SZ03/SZ03__Scorzonera_Hoffmans_Schwarze.html

[SunkenCiv]

That's a big tomatillo! Used for salsa verde.

Cisineros Grande Tomatillo

[SunkenCiv]

Yellow Bell (a tiny paste tomato)

[SunkenCiv]

Yellow Baby Watermelon

[ApplegateRanch]

We expanded from 3,750 sq ft to 7,000 sq feet for this year. We had a warm dry spell just before the last blizzard that was long enoungh to dry it out just right for tilling. Still need to get the fence up on the new section.

About 300 feet of potatoes going in: 90' Red Norland; 100' Red Pontiac; 100' Yukon Gold; 10' All Blue.

Also bought some open pollenated varieties this year from Cherry Gal, just to be able to save some seed.

Also have a peach, a pear, and a cherry on order, to add to the orchard. A welcome addition to the apples, plums, chokecherries, gooseberries, rhubarb, and the one lone pear I discovered in a dry creek bed last fall.

Our last frost is mid-late May, so haven't started any seeds yet, but the perrenial multiplier onions are doing good; and some of the rhubarb is starting to break through the surface.

[SunkenCiv]

That’s a lot of taters. :’) They are a huge bargain, generally, and if you find the right spot to store them in the ground all winter, the little guys will provide your hills next year (dig ‘em early, put ‘em in rows).

[ApplegateRanch]

I never used to bother, as we drove through Idaho regularly. We bought directly from one farmer, when he had them; or at a packing house, 100 pounds at a time.

Here, they are $2.50-$4.00+ for a 10# bag, but for about $25 in seed, fertilizer, and water we should get anywhere from 300 to 700 pounds. Last year, we had a scant 100’ feet, and it wasn’t enough. Friends will help with any ‘excess’.

Also on the docket for this year is a solar drier, so dried hash browns, plus some canned boilers are in order.

You’re saying PLANT them to over-winter? I know that’s how they survived in the wild; but we hit -30F in the winter.

[SunkenCiv]

Ow, 30 below. Mulch ‘em, bury ‘em a little deeper. The potato is basically a perennial here in zone 5, but of course, one would wish to tend them to avoid any little problems which could result in the mass emigration of everyone back to Ireland. Or somethin’.

[ApplegateRanch]

Technically, we’re Zone 4, but it can get mighty cold for about a week every year. sometimes, as warm as -15; this year, -27.

[ApplegateRanch]

Finally dried out enough to get the first 200’ of spuds in today.

Thunder storms tonight through Saturday, but maybe next week I can get the rest in, as well as get the peas planted.

About time to start getting warmseason seeds planted indoors for transplanting later.

Oh, BTW, the last snow storm did manage to set new records in the area. Most notably, Rapid City broke their previous season accumulation record by 2+”, and came in way over double the 36” 30 year average accumulation at over 82”. Previous 80” record was set around 1950, and the records go back to the 1880s.

[SunkenCiv]

Excellent! 200’ of taters in hills should pretty much take care of your potato demands, and a good chunk of your overall food requirements for that matter.

[ApplegateRanch]

It’s a good start. 150’ to go.

On National Zucchini Sneak day, I may just need to paint a few of them green.

[SunkenCiv]

wow, there’s a holiday for everything...

[ApplegateRanch]

Three weeks on, and the first of the potatoes are breaking through the ground. First peas are breaking ground, too.

ITMT, the 2+ acre area where the garden is located has a new pipe gate, and the barb wire perimeter fence mended to keep the cows out. Just have to finish getting the deer fence around the garden itself.

Within the perimeter, but outside the garden itself, are now two raised, wide 20’ rows of divided and transplanted perennial bunching onions. Some are reds; the rest are yellows. Next to them, on another raised wide bed is a fresh seeding of white Nebuka bunchers, and about 6’ of giant carrot seed.

So far, the 24 rhubarb (13 ancient, at least 30 years old; and 11 I moved here as divisions three years ago) are looking good, and the rest of the garden is ready to plant. Why so much? Because we didn't find the Hippie’s patch, until AFTER I dug & moved the others over here from town.

The place had been abandoned since about 1972, when we bought it in ‘96; we just finally moved onto it 3 years ago.

The disappointment is the 20 asparagus I bought last year: only 6 came up last year. Now, I again have 6 coming up, BUT at least one of them is NOT one of the ones that came up last year.

Since I have a spare 12 X 30 area tilled, I'll put a packet of asparagus seed in there,and see what happens. We do have scrawny & sparse ‘wild’ asparagus around the property, so the seed should do okay enough to get some transplants to move next year.

[SunkenCiv]

Wow, all I’ve done is grab a beefsteak plant from the grocery story, plus a few attractive annual flowers in larger pots. :’)

[ApplegateRanch]

Hee hee! I just sneaked a dozen Romas from the store today, when I got a tank of water. We have to haul it, so I have a 450 gallon poly tank in the back of the pickup.

Tomatoes did so poor last year that the wife didn’t want me to plant any this time.

As for larger pots, this place has some old, deep bath tubs here & there. They used them in the old days to water the orchard trees. I’m moving the four I know about to the fenced area, and filling them with a custom mix. I’ll use three to grow to grow root veggies: carrots, beets, & rutabagas.

The fourth one will get kitchen scraps, shredded paper, cow manure, and mail order worms.

[Gabz]

I’m so jealous of you both!!!!

I have NOTHING in the ground yet. I’ve got all kinds of stuff in flats in the greenhouse, but it just won’t quit raining. If we haven’t caught up on our rain deficit in the past couple of days, I don’t think we ever will.

Tomatoes are doing great, but I’ve been having horrible problems with peppers. If it would quit raining I’ll have about 70 maters ready to go in by this time next week. But I can’t get it tilled up because my field is like a swamp.

I also have a passel of really ticked off outside cats because I laid lattice down over the 2 beds I have by the front of the house. Not 10 minutes after I had the larger one all hoed out, and ready to seed I found 3 of them digging in it.

[ApplegateRanch]

Jealous? You? But YOU have a GREENHOUSE!

Two weeks after sprouting, the stems on my Jiffy-Pellet cauliflower seedlings still make a pencil lead look obese.

All is not sweetness and light.

[Gabz]

LOL!! My “greenhouse” is just an over sized cold frame built from some 1X4s, old windows and 6mil poly.

I actually found a non swampy area in the field and I have been out there with a hoe, shovel, and rake. I would like to at least get the squash and cuke plants I bought on Sunday out there today while I have a little bit of sunshine at the moment :)