Hot Fun in the Summertime

Melon Fruit Salad? Yes Please!

Yes -- I do understand. I get it. Our summer is as distant a memory as Sly and the Family Stone. Yet I am reminded of those "Summer Days" when I begin to clean up and clean out of the last of the summer garden. The last to go was the melon patch. It's so very hard to let go of something that was so good to us during those days in the country sun.

Actually, I'd be telling a bit of a fib to you if I proclaimed 2013 as the "perfect" melon year. It wasn't. In fact, for the second straight year, I'm sad to proclaim that my attempt to grow the Georgia Rattlesnake watermelon to be a big, fat failure. Instead of "fat melons" I got lots of melons that grew to a size of two to three inches, and then developed a dead blotch of skin at the end.

Georgia Rattlesnake Melon

It didn't take long for that dead spot at the end to cover the entire melon either. I can't tell you how many times I watched so many promising starts on the vine go haywire on us. Like avocado trees, I've got some sort of "complex" when it comes to the Georgia Rattlesnake. No matter how many times I've tried to grow this variety -- no matter how many different things I've tried -- each attempt has come up a big, fat zero.

Fortunately? Not all melons act in this matter.

The Sangria variety -- for example -- did quite well for me this year. Do you know what the really funny part of this equation is? I didn't plant any Sangria watermelon seeds. Nope -- the seeds that germinated in one corner of a raised gardening bed this year were left over from last year. It didn't matter much that I ran them over once or twice with the injustice of a Mantis Rototiller. They seemed to like it just fine. So -- while my watermelon desires may not have been satisfied with a Georgia Rattlesnake -- the Sangria made for an acceptable substitute.

Cantaloupe and Crenshaw Melon Combo

I find myself thinking about melons now because -- well -- because melon season is long gone. Like many fruit varieties to come out of the garden this year -- they all managed to ripen up for a two-week to 10-day period in late August. During this golden, luscious period in time, it was melons for breakfast, melons for lunch and melons for dinner.

As the picture top right shows -- it was a fruit salad bonanza. Grapes, melons, peaches, you name it. Everything gave a little or a lot. And guess what? Even after all that -- it still wasn't enough. Because Bill Bird finds himself craving a home-grown, vine-ripened melon here in the month of November.

Sangria Melon Right, Crenshaw Melon Left

Except -- you can't get vine-ripened melons in November. Not in this part of the country anyway. Therefore, I do the next best thing: Post pictures and dream till next year.

Once again -- the clear winner in this year's melon patch -- just as it was last year -- is the Crenshaw Melon. I'm beginning to believe that the Crenshaw is just so darn easy to grow that one would have to be named Bill Bird to possibly screw up something this simple. So far? I haven't managed to screw it up. Therefore, I must be doing something right.

What the bugs didn't get -- the wife that is Venus would squeeze into fresh Crenshaw melon juice. Unlike past years, we didn't allow one melon to go to waste this year. What we didn't consume fresh -- the wife cut into pieces and ran it through the juicer.

Sliced Crenshaw Melon

It's during melon season where I am reminded of the Kingsburg Watermelon Festival. Sponsored by the Kingsburg Lions Club chapter, the watermelon festival was a place where you could get your fill of vine-ripened watermelon. If one quarter-slice wasn't enough, here, have two! And while you're at it? Enjoy a third! Heck, there was enough there to bathe in.

Sadly, the Kingsburg Watermelon Festival is an event that can now only be found in local memories. I'm not sure why it went away, but like most good things it did. The radio station I worked for at the time in Fresno sent me south to cover the Kingsburg event every year it seemed. Why I kept on drawing repeat coverage duty, I'll never know. It wasn't one of those events that was very hard to report on. I suppose my report went a little like this:

"There are people here... They are consuming watermelon and lots of it... Reporting live from Kingsburg...."

My love for watermelon wasn't born there -- but it's one of those little events that will always stay with me. And it's one reason why the mighty melon will always have room in the Backyard of Bird...

The Crenshaw Surprise

Vine Ripened Crenshaw Melon

On the first weekend of the 2012 NFL Season, the garden in the Bird Back 40 delivered a sweet treat in the form of a Crenshaw melon. Here on the second weekend on the 2012 NFL Season, the garden is about to deliver five more.

Fresh off watching the San Francisco Giants pull even closer to a National League West title and my suddenly reborn Fresno State Bulldog football team deliver and eye-popping rout of the Colorado Buffaloes, I can tell you that life is pretty sweet at the moment. It's almost as sweet as the Crenshaw melons that are coming off the Bird Back 40 vines in eye-popping numbers.

A Sweet Surprise Awaits

I've never grown this melon before. Shame on Bill Bird. Because this melon has now found a permanent home in our North Natomas soil. Short and sweet? The Crenshaw melon loves the Bird Back 40. So, we'll love it back.

The melon pictured above and to your immediate left is the payoff for watching this treat turn from a bright green to a dull yellow. The rind of this melon also tends to die back near the blossom end, which makes it an inviting target for birds and bugs. I watched -- anxiously -- as this treat started to ripen, hoping and praying that the Birds would get to this treat before the mockingbirds that frolic and sometimes curse our backyard.

Crenshaw Melon Chunks

Consider this prayers answered. The melon slowly ripened until it told us it was finally ready last Sunday morning. I was rather curious. Our first experience with this melon was rather disappointing. I had picked the first one a smidge too early. Although it was pleasantly sweet, it was nothing like the sweet tastebud surprise we were about to receive.

That taste and wonderful texture grabbed my attention fairly quickly. What exactly is a Crenshaw melon and why I have I waited so long to plant said variety? From our friends at wiseGEEK:

Crenshaw Melons on the Vine

"Crenshaw melons were bred by crossing casaba melons with Persian melons, also sometimes called muskmelons. The favorable traits of both melon varieties successfully manifested in the cross breed, and it quickly became one of the more popular melons on the market. The melons can be eaten plain as a snack food, mixed in with fruit salads, or wrapped in prosciutto for a twist on the classic prosciutto wrapped melon appetizer."

I'll admit, it's been a strange melon season in the Bird Back 40. August is normally the strongest month for melon production, and while we've pulled our share of cantaloupes and small watermelons from the vine, August production hasn't been anything to really write home to mom about.

Georgia Rattlesnake Watermelon

But September? September is a decidedly different story. Those Georgia Rattlesnake watermelon vines are suddenly popping with late season production. While the cantaloupe and Sangria watermelons have largely played themselves out, the Crenshaw vines are putting on a real show with production I've never witnessed in a backyard melon patch before.

The big question mark is, will the weather hold? Melons like long, hot summer days. They don't dig cool fall temperatures. Mother Nature has done her part by delivering a mid-September heatwave, but the days are getting shorter. That can play havoc with melon vines and varieties that need 60-80 days to deliver a firm, vine-ripened melon.

The Crenshaw: Sliced and Ready to Chunk!

I don't have any doubts about the Crenshaw melons that are now just starting to turn yellow. But that Georgia Rattlesnake? Why did you take so long to show up? Thank you for coming, but please, hurry up! This weather isn't going to last forever!

There is no better weekend treat than a sliced Crenshaw melon. Starting your day with a bowl of fruit procured from your own backyard vines is the final payoff for a summer of vine-tending work. And, after one bite of a vine-ripened Crenshaw melon, a gardener comes to realize that it was worth the effort and that much more.

The Politics of Melon

Rich Sweetness 123 Melon

It's got nothing on the Politics of Dancing, but it sure does taste better!

It's that special time of year when the summer garden that you've carefully tended weekend in and weekend out begins to pay off here and there with some interesting surprises. As the wife that is Venus knows, I like to mix things up a bit from year to year. Why keep growing the same type of tomato, onion, carrot or any other vegetable for that matter, when there are so many interesting other possibilities?

Case in point? The photo directly to your right. I call it the "Fiona Ma" melon -- when in reality -- it's not. But the seeds did come from Fiona Ma, who represents the 12th Assembly District in the California State Assembly and is also a candidate for Board of Equalization, District 1. This is indeed a melon, but it's like no melon I've ever seen or tasted. And it's putting on a bright orange and yellow striped show in the Bird Back 40 this year.

CA Assemblymember Fiona Ma

The seeds for this unique melon actually come from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, but Assemblymember Ma was promoting "agricultural sustainability" while giving away packets of this melon seed during a recent Democrat event attended by my left-leaning, Democrat brother.

What did my brother do with this particular gift? He gave it to his right-leaning, Republican brother who gardens, which just goes to show that "agricultural sustainability" doesn't exactly fall within rigid party lines. Besides, my brother wouldn't know what "agricultural sustainability" was unless it was bottled, packaged and sold on a shelf at Trader Joe's.

Pocket Sized Melons with a Punch

Baker Creek markets this little gem of a melon as the Rich Sweetness 123 melon. The online catalog description says: "Incredible little melons from the former Soviet Union. The fruit are a beautiful red, striped with golden yellow and weigh only about ¼ lb! The flesh is pure white and quite sweet. These have a very refreshing taste and are very fragrant. One of the best new varieties we’ve discovered in the last few years."

This little gem of a melon plus many others are putting on an August show to remember in the Bird Back 40. It is indeed fresh melon season in Northern California. And the seeds that the wife that is Venus and I carefully sowed last spring are now producing tasty melons in all shapes and sizes.

Sangria Watermelon

Not everything is a success in the melon patch, of course. What in gardening is? I am missing out on some of the larger, whopper sized watermelons that I planted earlier this year. But who needs whopper sized melons when the Sangria is popping watermelons in the shape of a small bowling pin?

And then there's that "mystery melon." What is it? I don't know! It's a "mystery." But it sure does taste good! Venus seems to think it's some sort of a crenshaw variety, but there's just one eensy-teensy problem with that. See, I don't remember planting crenshaw melon seeds. It might be a crenshaw! It might not! What I can tell you with all honesty is this: it's darn tasty.

"Mystery Melon"

I suppose it could also be a casaba melon. But there's just one eensy-teensy problem with that as well. See, I don't remember planting casaba melon seeds. Hmm....My memory is slipping (the wife is not surprised).

Combine this sudden richness of melon crops with fresh O'Henry peaches and table grapes that are putting on a bang-up show -- and you've got a fruit salad fit for any king or queen. And, try as I might, I never can really get tired of eating fruit procured from the numerous trees and vines sprouting in the backyard.

Melons, Grapes and Peaches: Oh My!

I don't know if I'm really promoting "agricultural sustainability" or not. I don't think of it in that way. I tend to simplify things a bit more. My way of thinking goes like this: I like melon. I plant melon. If someone wants to put a label of "agricultural sustainability" on Venus and I are doing -- that's fine I suppose.

Just as long as I get the fruit salad payoff.