Planting warm weather veggies and fruit in !#%&*! crazy weather - welcome to northern Nevada

Time 5:48am
Temperature - Sparks 54.1, CC&R Farm 51.6
Soil temp 60

Most of these were started from seed in April, potted-up in May.  Only a few were ever-so-slightly root bound so I'd call all of these successful.

Here's what we planted:
2 purple tomatillo
6 Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
13 bush beans that already have teeny beans
6 Crystal Apple cucumber for eating fresh
4 Double yield cucumber for pickles
1 Delice de Table melon
3 Noir de Carmes melon
3 Golden Midget watermelon
2 Charentais melons
1 Valenciano pumpkin (white)
2 Sugar Pumpkins
1 Delicata winter squash
2 Butternut winter squash
2 Marina di Chioggia winter squash
2 Red Turi winter squash
2 Trombetta di Albenga summer squash (an heirloom Italian climbing squash)
1 Benning Green Tint summer squash - I put a couple more seeds in with the plant because it was scrawny -- I don't have much hope for its survival.
2 Ronde de Nice zucchini
2 Cocozelle Bush zucchini

We'll wait a week or 10 days then cull each variety down to one plant, two if we planned an extra one to produce enough to donate. 

It took two years to get my hands on the Trombetta de Albenga squash seeds so I'm really excited to see what happens.  I first discovered these at the farmers market a few years ago.  They were grown by a Nevada farmer who no longer grows vegetables on her farm due to a family dispute that effectively drove them out of farming on their property.  They wanted to farm but the sibling wanted to make big bucks...totally sucks!

It's northern Nevada, not to mention my day off, so the weather was crazy yesterday. The cloudy weather was perfect for planting but the alternating lashing wind and fairly intense heat when the sun broke the clouds was everything tender transplants hate.  To protect them we covered the entire planting space with agricultural fabric.  We'll leave it on for a while to protect everything and hopefully deny the squash bugs a place to lay their eggs. 

Just the other day I purchase one of the best gardening gizmos ever -- Tufbell Clips.  They hold agricultural fabric in place and are a great alternative to the concrete stepping stones we've been using for years. I am so happy!

Melon experiment update

Last year I tried to grow melons for the first time.  Some came to fruition, some didn't, some I didn't like.  Here's an update.

Red-Seeded Citron seemed to come to fruition but I couldn't tell because it isn't an eating melon. It has to be cooked before it is edible.  Won't try this again.

Unsuccessful - Moon and Stars, Queen Anne's Pocket Melon, Golden Midget, Charentais, Delice de Table.

Successful - Prescott Fond Blanc, Minnesota Midget.

This year the melon wish-list includes Charentais, Prescott Fond Blanc, Golden Midget, Noir Des Carmes.  I followed some of the advice offered by successful melon growers, but the cloudy cool weather we've been experiencing is everything melons don't like, so success is not a given.

Growing melons

Perfect melon growing latitude is 30N to 35TD; Spanish Springs is 39 to 38' 57" N

January - try to buy 75 day varieties

Melons like it hot and bright: sunny days in the eighties, nights in the sixties. Melons Mature 80-120 days after seeding: some watermelons need about a month longer (up to 150) says. None of the melons take kindly to frost, but if you don’t have a decent interval between spring and fall freezes, there are ways to stretch the season.

Soil light, deep and well drained: sandy loam is best. Amend soil in the fall with leaf mold and compost, green manure or cover crop.

September – set up next year’s melon bed. South sloping to promote warmth, small enough to work in without stepping on growing area; protected from N and/or W wind.

Rotate your melons to a new area every year, especially if the soil is infected with nematodes or Fusarium.

Watermelon does well in acidic (ph 5-7); melon prefers basic or alkaline (ph 7-8).

Root systems are large but relatively shallow.

Melons hate soil compaction and water logging. Protect from wind, especially N and/or W, but don’t block out the sun.

Plant after threat of frost has passed and soil temps are at least 60. Four inch transplants should work just fine and produce fruit.

April - Nick and soak watermelon seeds; start 4 inch pots with 4-5 seeds each, 2-4 weeks before Memorial Day (find out when air temps stay above 60 at night -- can I plant three weeks prior to that if transplants covered with Agrobon); keep in a dark moist place until seedlings emerge in about a week at 75-85 degrees. Watermelon can take longer because seeds are tough, scarify and soak first. Once seedlings emerge provide 16 hours under grow lights, keeping them 2-3 inches from the light. Thin to three plants per pot; feed with diluted fish emulsion once or twice a week until they’re ready for the garden.

Six millimeter black polyethylene is helpful.

At planting, mix a shovel full of well-rotted manure into the soil and plant melons in “hills” a grouping of three or four. Sprinkle soil with diatomaceous earth for slugs; use Bt for caterpillars. Cover with Agrobon for 3 weeks until plants are established

Remove any leaves that show signs of disease, cull (prune out) defective fruits to 2-3 per vine; wrap fruits in Agrobon bags to deter cucumber beetle.

Melon experiments

Red Seeded Citron - must cook it to eat it. (Watermelon) - 90-100 days

Queen Anne's Pocket Melon - only smells good. (Dudaim)

Prescott Fond Blanc (Cantalupensis) - 85-95 days

Van Doren Moon and Stars - probably won't work, needs 100-120 days (Watermelon)

Minnesota Midget (Reticulatus) - 60-75 days

Golden Midget (Watermelon) - 70 days

Charentais (Cantalupensis) - 90 days

Delice de Table (Cantalupensis) - 85-90 days