French Heirloom Melons in the greenhouse! – It’s an idea I found in an 1802 gardening book about how early New Englanders raised table grapes, melons and ‘Pine Apples’ under glass. With a 33′ glasshouse that sits dormant all summer, I thought “Why not use this wasted summer space?”
So far, it is working well, with daily watering and weekly fertilizing, and six varieties of heirloom melons, it seemed my biggest problem was going to be pollination – since the only way a bee can enter the greenhouse is through the roof vents, but, they have found their way in so melons are on their way!
It’s a war, between the melons, and cacti. I think I know who will win, but the melons are being pruned significantly to reduce runners and side shoots. If I was good quality melons, I will need to reduce the number of fruit per plant, and the number of stems.
A fuzzy baby melon starts to form.
Chanterais melons tumble over a raised bed in the greenhouse bulb bench which is sand filled. The melons are all planted in felt planter bags and they are being trained up and over a mesh trellis, which now runs along the roof near the glass.
A water-bottle gourd blossom, still open after an obviously busy night!
A bottle gourd forming in the garden. I planted one in the greenhouse too.
These melons are doubling in size every week, now that the dog days of summer are here. Hot, steamy August nights, and bright, sunny days.
WOW, those look amazing. Totally pretty to look at, and I bet they will be incredibly tasty to eat.
Thanks for sharing with us. 🙂
Hugs, Bella 🙂
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Awesome Matt, well amazeing! you need to come see my farm and give me some exotic ideas or should I say original….
Those images of your greenhouse are priceless! Never have I felt so sorry for cacti!
Your experiment seems to be very good. Your melon looks bigger in size.
Looking forward for more updates.
Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Lessons