How to Plant Watermelon Organically

This year I went crazy with water melon starts. About three weeks ago I started one flat each of 15 varieties. Many of these seeds are heirloom varieties from Seed Saver's Exchange.

Some of the seeds were small quantities and a flat was all I had. Others I had a larger quantity and so I also direct seeded some.

I have been bringing transplants to the farmer's market. So it you want to try any of these you can get them there.

Here is how you do it.

My Watermelon Was Developed in South Africa

There is nothing better than watermelon in the heat of summer. Watermelon thrive in hot dry climates and like to grow in loose sandy soil. We had an amazing crop last summer and have an encore planned for this year.

Did you know that watermelon originated in southern Africa, where it grow wild. We all know the stories of the Israelites lamenting the eating of watermelon from the Nile Valley when they were wandering in the wilderness. The delightful melon migrated quickly to China, Europe and the Americas in the 16th Century.

Many of our modern watermelons grown commercially have the variety called...

Dad's Watermelon Memories

Some of the old timers around Elk Horn, Iowa would remember when a teenager named Lynn would take watermelon to town. He would take a wagon behind a Farmall H, which was new at the time and sit on main street and sell delicious melons. This was a popular venue for the folks in town to get a taste of summer, I'll bet he took sweet corn a few times too. Later the better Elk Horn club would host a watermelon day at the city park and I always wondered if the roots of that event weren't from a local teenager, who later became my father.

I'm sure dad hasn't really thought much about watermelons in the last few years, but I have.

How to Select a Great Watermelon

How to pick a great watermelon. Due to the longer growing season and late frost this year we have had 100's of watermelon late in the season. We have sold about 150 melons over the last two weeks of the end of October and early November.

Needless to say I have some experience on the subject of, "picking a great watermelon".

One of the first indications of a ripe melon in the field is the turning of the tendril brown closest to the melon.

A second indication is the turning of the spot that touches the ground a creamy color instead of white. The dark green varieties like black diamond get an almost yellow spot.

A third measure is a deep resonant thump of the melon along with being heavy for its size.

Dryhydrate Everything

We have a row about 300 feet long of very large Jalapenos, that are the source of a bushel of Jalapeno peppers in the dehydrator this evening. We had two bushels at the market this week. We sold one and I am drying the other. It takes about 30 trays in my dehydrator for that many peppers. It will take about 24 hours to dry the peppers to a pliable consistency and 36 hours completely dry. If you are going to smoke them, the pliable consistency is best. If you are going to store them long term completely dry them and put them in the freezer. If  you want to try your hand at drying, stop by our stand.

We have a lot of Jalapenos but the real gems are the Poblanos or Ancho's as they are sometimes called. We have two rows 300 feet long of beautiful dark green peppers. Poblanos are quite a bit larger than Jalapenos and don't fit as well into the dehydrator. But the medium and small ones can fit in the trays. They dry beautifully and smoke even better.

I had a few extra trays so I loaded up a few hundred serranos with the Jalapenos. They are hotter so a little goes along way. They have a unique flavor, which is different than the other two.

Tomorrow night I'm thinking that I will load up some Roma tomatoes. They have much more moisture in them so they take a little longer to dry. You can also smoke the Romas and the will dance in your tomato dishes.

You can dehydrate just about everything:

- Green beans, for winter soup
- Watermelon, like cotton candy
- Herbs, pretty much anything
- Sweet Corn, makes ooh soo sweet corn meal
- Egg Plant, really reconstitutes well for late winter lasagna

The Best Selection of Watermelon Plants In the Area

We have the best selection of watermelon plants in the area. This year I gathered up seed samples of all the different watermelons I have tried over the years and started plants for the farmers market. From hybrids to heirlooms we have plants of all kinds.

Carolina Cross - 100 days, Hybrid, over 100 lbs. Red.
Dixie Queen - 90 days, 30 lbs, Red
Allsweet - 90 days, 25 lbs, Red
Farmers Sweet - 85 days, 20 lbs, Red
Congo - 90 days, 30 lbs, Red
Bush Sugar Baby - 75 days, 8 lbs Red
Kleckley's Sweet - 85 days, 35 lbs, Red
Moon and Stars - 100 days, 25 lbs, Red
Yellow Doll - 75 days, 8 lbs, Yellow
Yellow Lady - 75 days, 10 lbs, Yellow

We will be bringing these to market in the fall as finished melons. Watermelon is one of our favorites.

Our teens can't wait.

Plant at the same level as the seedling was grown at. Fertilize lightly around the base of the plant with fish emulsion. If you can get some well finished compost put a 2-3 inch layer about a foot wide around the base of the plant. If it is a wet year plant into a 2-3 inch elevated hill. If it is a dry year create a slight depression for the plant to collect the precious rain fall. Watermelon would like 1 inch of water a week up until about two weeks before harvest, then back off. Fertilize every 2-3 weeks with fish emulsion. Keep well weeded until the plants shade the ground and can out compete the weeds.

The melons are ripe when the spot that touches the ground turns a light yellow and the tendril next to the stem where the watermelon attaches turns brown and dries up. Typically the watermelon have a deep resonant sound when thumped when ripe. But the tendril is a more reliable indicator, at least for the grower.

I pick all of our melons at the peak of ripeness. Melons will keep 4 weeks or more from the time of harvest.