The Time is Ripe

Use Your Melon

by Amy Giezentanne and photographs by Jennifer May, August 24, 2007

The coming of fall heralds change on every American calendar. Typically one of the busiest times of the year, it triggers a flurry of back-to-school shopping, last minute vacations, reluctant school-goers, fall sports schedules, and a heap of locally grown melons.

Rhinebeck resident and author Amy Goldman is widely recognized as a person in-the-know regarding melons. A private grower for over 30 years, Goldman began her journey toward cultivating expertise when someone taught her to grow watermelons using black plastic mulch. Her success with this method, which helps trap heat and regulate moisture, contradicted the notion that melons couldn’t thrive in northern climates. Buoyed by her success, Goldman expanded her efforts to include a variety of heirloom melons and began entering her results in the Dutchess County Fair competitions. These contests are judged mostly on the basis of size and her watermelons were often the largest. Her frequent success set her up as a go-to expert for advice on raising your own melons in the valley.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Goldman put her melon and general produce savvy to public use by authoring Melons for the Passionate Grower, The Compleat Squash, and Rare Forms. She uses her advocate’s voice to promote various heirloom varieties, which means an array of colors and shapes when it comes to melons. Her main source of inspiration, Seed Savers’ Exchange (www.seedsavers.org), is an organization dedicated to the preservation of America’s garden heritage. This seed movement’s “poster child,” as Goldman calls it, is the unique moon and stars watermelon. It’s known for its dark green rind dotted with small yellow stars and one large yellow “moon.” The colorful melon comes in several shapes and, depending on the strain, produces either sweet pink or yellow flesh. Its stunning rind and tasty flesh has made it a favorite among private and commercial growers alike.