Q & A with Amy Goldman, melon maven
/
Amy Goldman checks out a field of watermelons. (Photo by Victor Schrager)
Amy Goldman of Rhinebeck, New York, is a gardener, author, artist, and advocate for seed saving, plant breeding, and preserving heirloom fruits and vegetables. Her mission? To celebrate and catalogue the amazing diversity of standard, open-pollinated varieties, and to promote their conservation. A former board chair of Seed Savers Exchange, she now serves the organization as a special adviser.
Amy—described as “perhaps the world’s premier vegetable gardener” by Gregory Long, president emeritus of the New York Botanical Garden—has authored five books, including four that have earned the American Horticultural Society Book of the Year award: Melons for the Passionate Grower (2002), The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower’s Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds (2004), The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table (2008), and The Melon (2019), illustrated by Victor Schrager. She has also written Heirloom Harvest: Modern Daguerreotypes of Historic Garden Treasures (2015), illustrated by Jerry Spagnoli.
What first piqued your interest in melons?
Melons and watermelons are a lifelong love and calling. They stir passions and memories in me. When I taste the cream of the crop, I can picture my parents—melon mavens—swooning over similarly luscious fruits at meals during my childhood. I have so many happy memories of melon-filled summers. I take great pleasure in cultivating heirloom rarities, then saving and sharing their seed. It’s time to bring back some of the simple culinary pleasures of the past and introduce them to a new generation.
Can you share one fun fact about melons—something most people likely would not know?
Melons and watermelons are vining crops that belong to two different species within the cucurbitaceae or gourd family of plants. Recent phylogenetic studies show that the cucurbits most likely originated in Asia in the late Cretaceous period (over 70 million years ago). Various lineages found their way time and again to different continents by transoceanic long-distance dispersal. Picture gourds afloat! Watermelon’s more recent place of origin is in Africa, while the wild progenitor of melon has been found growing in India, and its closest relative lives in Australia.
What is your favorite melon variety to grow and why?
It’s not easy to choose, but among my favorite favorites will always be ‘Fordhook Gem.’ This is an extraordinary dessert melon with sweet and tender green flesh. And it has a fine pedigree as a cross between two noteworthy heritage varieties (‘Netted Gem’ and “Extra Early Knight’). I’m thrilled that Seed Savers Exchange is reintroducing ‘Fordhook Gen’ commercially in 2021. Among my favorite heirloom watermelons is ‘Ledmon’ (‘Lednum’), truly sublime. Hailing from North Carolina, its pink flesh is sugary, juicy, firm, and addictive. I feel a craving coming on just thinking about it.
What are your top five tips for growing healthy, happy melons?
Sow seeds inside three to four weeks in advance of the safe planting-out date. Ramp up the soil temperature with bottom heat via a heating mat or seed propagator with a thermostat. Melons germinate in about a week with soil temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees F and even faster at 90 degrees F. Watermelons generally take longer; briefly pre-soaking seeds in water can speed things along.
Transplant or direct seed outside after the threat of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 60 degrees F.
Black plastic mulch is not an emblem of beauty or sustainability, but it’s the way to go if you want a garden that really produces when the climate is sub-optimal. Melons and watermelons grow faster, flower sooner, and produce more fruit. The same is true regarding spunbond polyester row covers, which can be used early in the season to protect vulnerable transplants from drying winds, cold, and insect predators.
Space plants at wide enough intervals to promote plant health and reduce interplant competition for water.
If you reduce fruit load on the vine (by pruning off the cull or defective ones) , your dessert melons and watermelons will be bigger and sweeter.
Interested in taking a deeper dive into melons? Check out The Melon. Says Amy, “Everything you need to know to grow healthy, happy melons can be found in The Melon!”
Burrata and Green Melon Salad with Toasted Cumin and Basil
By Amy Goldman
“Creamy burrata cheese balances the sweet-tangy flavors of lightly pickled green-fleshed melon, such as ‘Eden Gem,’ in this simple yet sophisticated summer salad,” says Amy. “‘Snake’ melon can be used instead of cucumber.“
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 pound green-fleshed melon, seeded, rind removed, thinly sliced
1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds
8 ounces fresh burrata or fresh mozzarella cheese, torn
1 young beit alpha (bet alpha) or Persian cucumber, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup basil leaves, torn if large (for serving)
Flaky sea salt (for serving)
Freshly cracked black pepper (for serving)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large bowl, toss melon with vinegar and fine sea salt. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small dry skillet, toast cumin seeds over low heat, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a plate and let cool, then lightly crush with a mortar and pestle or on a cutting board, rocking the bottom of a heavy skillet over top.
3. Reserving the vinegar, arrange melon slices on serving plates. Top with cheese and cucumber. Drizzle each plate with ½ teaspoon each of oil and reserved vinegar. Sprinkle with cumin seeds, basil, flaky sea salt, and cracked pepper.
