Cantaloupe sprouts, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds are edible.

Muskmelon Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe matures early and has an excellent sweet flavor. This hardy variety will grow in all regions and is more drought tolerant than other melons. The beautiful oval melons have a ribbed, tan skin, and a sweet, musky flavor and aroma.

Muskmelon  Cantaloupes are a variety of the muskmelon, and the name “cantaloupe” refers specifically to the North American variety.

Cantaloupe seeds can be planted directly into the garden.

Sow seed directly into the garden soil a few weeks after the last frost date. Seeds can be planted again in late summer for a fall harvest. 

Create a hill of well-drained soil about 10" high and 2' across. Plant 3 seeds 1" deep on top. Later thin to one plant per hill. Grow in full sun and water often.

They should come up in 7-14 days depending on the soil temperature. They grow quickly in warm weather. Keep their roots cooler with a few inches of mulch and it will conserve moisture and reduce weed growth. If you are in a cooler climate try to keep plants as warm as possible. One suggestion is to plant them next to a warm south-facing wall and to cover the vines during cooler nights. 

Cantaloupe vines spread quickly across the garden and can reach 3-6' long. If space is limited they can be trained up a trellis, but be sure to provide support for the hanging melons. When the fruits on the trellis are the size of a baseball place them in a stretchy net or sling. For larger melons, keep only 2-3 fruits per vine and remove the others. Harvest when the melons they are yellowish-orange and slightly soft near the stem. They can gently be pulled from the vines when mature.

Muskmelon Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe seeds. Cucumis melo Annual. Open-pollinated, heirloom, non-GMO. Harvest after 80 days  

This packet plants 10 mounds for growing 10 plants. 

"Mary Washington" asparagus (Asparagus officinalis "Mary Washington") is one of the older and most common asparagus varieties. This perennial vegetable is harvested in spring, producing a high yield of tender spears from a rhizome crown.

Tender asparagus spears are snapped or cut close to the ground to harvest.

Rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Perk up floral arrangements with the plant’s graceful, feathery fern-like leaves. Harvest scrumptious homegrown spears from mature plants and enjoy fresh, grilled, and steamed. Disease-resistant to rust. Cold-hardy and heat-tolerant. Harvest in April or May. Self-pollinating. 

Slender fruit is bright sweet golden-yellow. They are as delicious as they are attractive; bush plants.

Summer Squash - a broad term used to describe soft squash varieties such as zucchini and patty pan squash—is a warm-season crop that can be grown almost anywhere in full sun. Wait until any threat of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to about 70 F before planting, as these tender squash varieties are extremely sensitive to frost and light freezes. Perfect for containers, most summer squash grow on short, compact vines that don’t require trellising or staking, unlike the sprawling vines of most winter squash and pumpkins. Rather than growing baseball bat-sized zucchini—which can be bland, full of seeds, and woody—harvest squash when fruit is small and tender and your plants will keep producing right up to frost.

A pumpkin seed, also known in North America as a pepita, is the edible seed of a pumpkin or certain other cultivars of squash. The seeds are typically flat and asymmetrically oval, have a white outer husk, and are light green in color after the husk is removed.

Pumpkins are actually a type of winter squash. Many varieties can send out vines that are 10 to 20 feet long, which can be challenging for a raised-bed garden. One option is to grow them on a trellis, such as the Cucumber Trellis. Use a mesh bag or fabric to help support especially heavy fruit. Another technique is to plant them on an outside corner of your raised bed and let the vines ramble onto the grass.

Like summer squash, winter squash need rich soil that's been amended with compost. They need warm weather and warm soil to grow and produce well. In most cases, it takes 90 to 100 days from planting seeds until the squash are ripe. Cold-climate gardeners may want to get an early start by planting seeds indoors about three weeks before the last spring frost. Plant two seeds per 3" pot, and cut off one if both grow.

Transplant into the garden a week or two after the last spring frost. You can warm the soil by covering it with clear plastic, which works better than the traditional black plastic, as long as you seal the edges with soil to contain the heat.

Some winter squash and pumpkins — the bigger ones, generally — will only produce a couple of fruit per plant. The seed catalog or seed packet should tell you what to expect. Pumpkins are always fun for kids, but not always good for pie. If you want jack-o-lanterns, you can grow any variety; for pies and soups, look for "pie pumpkins" or "sugar pumpkins," which have sweeter, more flavorful flesh.

Russian tarragon can be used fresh or dried in cooking, adding a subtle, sweet licorice flavor to dishes like salads, chicken, seafood, egg dishes, and soups. It also flavors marinades, dressings, and herb-infused vinegars and is used in some traditional Persian, Hungarian, and Armenian dishes, as well as a component of the popular Russian and Georgian carbonated drink, Tarkhun. However, note that Russian tarragon can break down faster than French tarragon, so it may need to be added later in the cooking process to preserve its flavor.  

Guatemalan Blue squashes are large, elongated fruits, averaging 35 to 40 centimeters in length and 6 to 10 pounds, and have an oblong to oval shape with slight tapering towards the curved ends. The rind is firm, hard, and smooth, ranging in color from dark green, green-blue, to a dusty, gray-green. There may also be some faint light green, vertical striping extending the length of the squash. Underneath the surface, the flesh is dense, thick, and dark orange, encasing a central, oval cavity filled with stringy fibers and many cream-colored seeds. Guatemalan Blue squashes have a smooth, tender texture when cooked and develop a sweet, nutty, and subtly fruity flavor.

Seasons/Availability

Guatemalan Blue squashes are available in the fall through winter.

Soil

Average garden soil with excellent drainage.

Position

Full sun.

Frost tolerant

Good. Where winters are mild, seedlings sprout in fall and survive until spring.

Feeding

Fast growth is encouraged by mixing a balanced organic fertilizer into the soil before planting.

Companions

Echinacea, Oats and Monarda. Upright larkspur makes an ideal flower to grow behind shorter mound-forming bloomers.

Spacing

Single Plants: 11" (30cm) each way (minimum)

Rows: 11" (30cm) with 11" (30cm) row gap (minimum)

Sow and Plant

Sow larkspur seeds where you want the plants to grow in fall, or first thing in spring. Larkspur can be transplanted with care, but plants grow best from direct-sown seeds.

Our Garden Planner can produce a personalized calendar of when to sow, plant and harvest for your area.

Notes

Well-pleased plants can grow quite tall and may need staking. In many climates, larkspur will reseed with a little encouragement. Colors include pink, purple, lavender, white and many bicolors.

Harvesting

Larkspurs make wonderful cut flowers. As flowers fade, snip them off with scissors to keep the plants looking neat. Pull up plants when blooms become scarce.

Troubleshooting

The biggest challenge to growing larkspur is getting the seedlings up and growing. Larkspur is poisonous to pets and horses, but is seldom nibbled due to its bitter taste