Victory Garden

[anatess2]

I'm very interested how sweet it is compared to the first one!

[Carborendum]

On 6/23/2020 at 10:05 AM, anatess2 said:

I'm very interested how sweet it is compared to the first one!

It was a little sweeter.  But it was still NOT RIPE!

HOWEVER...  I just harvested another two.  

That is a 50 lb watermelon.  It is about 23" long and largest diameter of 10.5 inches.  I'm saving it for 4th of July weekend.

I also have another one at 45 lbs.  I think I'm going to give that one away.  Then there are a few that should be ready by next week.

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Carborendum

[anatess2]

12 hours ago, Carborendum said:

It was a little sweeter.  But it was still NOT RIPE!  

Holy cow!  What does it take for that thing to be ripe!  Was it red or still pink?

 

12 hours ago, Carborendum said:

HOWEVER...  I just harvested another two.  

That is a 50 lb watermelon.  It is about 23" long and largest diameter of 10.5 inches.  I'm saving it for 4th of July weekend.

I also have another one at 45 lbs.  I think I'm going to give that one away.  Then there are a few that should be ready by next week.

 

Zooweemama!  You're getting tons of fruit out of that yard.

My watermelon has several flowers but no fruit yet.  My yellow squash and zucchini rotted on the bush in the week-long wet monsoon.  Tomatoes and eggplants have had steady harvest.  The peppers got eaten by caterpillars.  We've been harvesting tons of green leafy veggies.  Overall, not bad but could be better.  I've been hit or miss with this square-foot gardening method but I'll give it a couple more years to see if I can do better.

[Carborendum]

31 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Holy cow!  What does it take for that thing to be ripe!  Was it red or still pink?

That one was red in the very center.  But it was pink for the large part of it.  And the last inch or so before the rind was almost as white as the rind.

I've been keeping tabs on all the melons I've opened up so far.  And I can only think of two things that changed.

1) These are much larger than the previous ones (27 -29 lbs).
2) I stopped watering them for about a week.

The reason I harvested these was that next to the 45 lb melon, I saw a smaller watermelon (I'd guess around 25 lbs) which had cracked open on its own.  I opened it and cleared some debris to take a taste.  It was pretty good.  About as sweet as the sweetest you might get at the store.  Nothing to get too excited over.   But still tasty.  So, I'm hoping that these two larger ones are sweeter still.  I won't know until this Saturday.

I'm going to start up watering again since there are many more that are still growing.

[Carborendum]

OK, I broke down and cut open the 45 lb melon.  It was nice and red.  But it still had the little ring of clear flesh around the edge.  I bit into it and found that it was almost as sweet as the red flesh.  But as soon as I bit into the rind, I KNEW it.  It was tangy.  Not tasty.

The sweetness was good.  But if this is a 13 on the the brix scale and sodas are at 11, I'm thinking they are NOT the same scale.  It may be that the presence of the fiber is dilluting the sweet sensation on the tongue.  But it is not what I'd think is "sweeter" than soda.  The best bite I've had may be the same sweetness as soda -- which is perfectly fine for watermelon.

I've heard other melons are at 11, 12, & 13.  If they are all that sweet, then fine.  But since I don't have those on hand, I don't really have a proper basis of comparison.

The biggest benefit is the size of the melon. There is much MORE flesh to eat than in a typical melon at the store.  So, that is certainly a bonus for my family.  As it is, I'm taking a 1/3 of the melon and giving it to the family I visit for sacrament.

All-in-all, I don't know if this would be worth it for most families.  The seeds are certainly overpriced compared to other melon seeds.  But they are heirloom.  And that means something to some folks.  For heirloom seeds, they're about the going rate (which I think is a rip off).  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is just out for a decent melon to eat.

For me, since I now have seeds to continue planting, I think I will continue with these melons.

After this Saturday, I'll report on the 50 lb melon.

[Jane_Doe]

And I'm just proud that we've manager to keep 4 flowers alive.   Their fellows didn't survive the two late blizzards, but those 4 are still going!

[Carborendum]

4 hours ago, Jane_Doe said:

And I'm just proud that we've manager to keep 4 flowers alive.   Their fellows didn't survive the two late blizzards, but those 4 are still going!

I just can't get used to the idea of blizzards in June.

[Jane_Doe]

6 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I just can't get used to the idea of blizzards in June.

Welcome to WY

We  had one ~June 3 and another ~June 21.

[anatess2]

19 hours ago, Jane_Doe said:

Welcome to WY

We  had one ~June 3 and another ~June 21.

Since when did Wyoming move to Australia?

Edited July 2, 2020 by anatess2

[Vort]

5 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Since when did Wyoming move to Australia?

Yeah. I though Australia was in South America, which is a part of Texas.

-Signed, A Proud Product of American Public Education

[anatess2]

3 minutes ago, Vort said:

Yeah. I though Australia was in South America, which is a part of Texas.

-Signed, A Proud Product of American Public Education

You must be from South Carolina.

(let's see if you get that reference... )

 

[Jane_Doe]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

Since when did Wyoming move to Australia?

I have friends in Australia, and they routinely let me know how in June (their peak winter) it's still colder in Wyoming.  

Today's a scorching 84 though -- the pools are packed! 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Jane_Doe

[Vort]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

You must be from South Carolina.

(let's see if you get that reference... )

I do not.

Did I mention that I'm  the product of American public education?

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

Yeah. I though Australia was in South America, which is a part of Texas.

It’s like America, but . . . south. 

[anatess2]

On 7/2/2020 at 5:56 PM, Vort said:

I do not.

Did I mention that I'm  the product of American public education?

 

[Carborendum]

So, this was the 50 lb melon.

Looks pretty ripe to me.

The stuff at the very center was as sweet as candy.  Volume of super sweet area was about the size of an eggplant.

Beyond that, it was still pretty sweet, like soda.

I really didn't have a full appreciation of the size of a 50 lbs watermelon.  We took it to a luncheon today with about 25 people.  I was thinking that people would want four or five pieces.  Nope.  Just one.  A few people had two.  It was just a side dish.  We only ate about 1/3 of the melon total.

I took half the melon over to my friend's house.  He says he LOVES watermelon.  On my way home from his house, he had to call me on my phone to exclaim that this was the sweetest melon he had ever eaten.  And it was also the juiciest.

BTW, some people complain that some super sweet melons sacrifice the characteristic melon flavor to achieve that sweetness.  Not so in this case.  It certainly had a full bodied taste.  I just need to figure out how to stop watering at the right time.  I believe that will decrease some of the water.  I honestly thought it was too much water.  As I cut into it, there was as much drippage as a turkey taken out of the roasting pot to be place on the cutting board for carving.  And that was just cutting the discs.  Then cutting the wedges created more water.  And while eating individual pieces, there was more drippage.  Definitely an outdoor eating melon.

Was it worth the hype.  Well, I suppose.  But do I really want a 50 lb candy bar?  No, but 50 lbs of soda around a party goes a long way.  So, for most people, I think it may not be worth it.  But if you have a large gathering, this melon would be worth it.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Carborendum

[Carborendum]

BTW, I have PLENTY of seeds.  If you would like some AND you have space to grow a 15' diameter plant, then PM me an address.  I'll send you an envelope of four seeds per plant that you want to grow.

To grow properly, you need to have at least a five month growing period and three months of 90+ degree weather.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Carborendum

[anatess2]

On 7/4/2020 at 8:04 PM, Carborendum said:

BTW, I have PLENTY of seeds.  If you would like some AND you have space to grow a 15' diameter plant, then PM me an address.  I'll send you an envelope of four seeds per plant that you want to grow.

To grow properly, you need to have at least a five month growing period and three months of 90+ degree weather.

Dagnabit.  I want seeds but I don't got no 15' diameter anything unless I risk another lien on my house by the HOA for replacing my front yard grass with watermelon!

[anatess2]

P.S. That watermelon sounds great for taking half of it for party eating and the other half of party juicing.  I make watermelon punch a lot.

[Carborendum]

On 7/5/2020 at 10:48 PM, anatess2 said:

Dagnabit.  I want seeds but I don't got no 15' diameter anything unless I risk another lien on my house by the HOA for replacing my front yard grass with watermelon!

I'm going to have to correct you're grammar.

"I ain't got no 15' diameter..."

[Vort]

5 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

On 7/5/2020 at 8:48 PM, anatess2 said:

Dagnabit.  I want seeds but I don't got no 15' diameter anything unless I risk another lien on my house by the HOA for replacing my front yard grass with watermelon!

I'm going to have to correct you're grammar.

"I ain't got no 15' diameter..."

I don't got no problem with her grammar.

[Carborendum]

OH, BOY!!!  I just plucked four melons between 40 and 51 lbs.

I'm going to take them around to the police and fire departments.  I hope they don't mind getting fresh fruit from a local.

[anatess2]

16 hours ago, Carborendum said:

OH, BOY!!!  I just plucked four melons between 40 and 51 lbs.

I'm going to take them around to the police and fire departments.  I hope they don't mind getting fresh fruit from a local.

Will they fit in a priority mail box?  😅

[Carborendum]

This year's watermelon Log:

36 seeds soaked in warm water:  Dec 30.
Planted 3 seeds per pod in soil (starter bin): Dec 31.

First sprout: Jan 15th. (one sprout)

[Carborendum]

Two more are peaking out as of this morning.