Spring Watermelon Prep

When we moved to Idaho, we began to hear from all sorts of people that it was impossible to grow and produce a large, delicious watermelon. I didn't want to accept that as a fact until I had tried. I met with a man from Hyde Park, Utah who was known as the watermelon expert. Hyde Park is a similar climate to southeast Idaho and this individual proved all the claims wrong and produced acres of watermelons.

The key is heat. Watermelons originate from Africa and are a desert plant. They need the soil to be warm and prefer hot days and cool nights - just what Idaho can provide. In order to heat the soil sufficiently, clear plastic is needed. Black plastic may work, but it has a tendency to solarize the soil, meaning it kills everything that is in the soil.

First, till and smooth out the soil. Be sure to sprinkle some nitrogen fertilizer right down the center of where each row will be. Since we raise donkeys, we have an overabundant supply of "natural" nitrogen fertilizer which we layer thick and then till into the ground.

Next, lay out your plastic to the desired length. Try to do this on a non-windy day. Those are impossible to find where we live in Idaho, so I had some assistance since my plastic took on the role of a parachute. My plastic is pretty thin, 1.5 mil. I think I will probably try for maybe 3 mil. next time in order to help it hold up longer.

Dig a trench on one end and up one side. Lay the plastic in the trench and firm the ends over with soil.

Dig a trench on the other end and final side, pressing the plastic into the trench and firming with soil.

Do this until you have all your rows. Leave the plastic like this for the next two to three weeks. It will heat the soil and also encourage any weeds to sprout and grow. Since there are no holes in the plastic, the weeds should die. The plastic makes the soil a perfect cozy warm home for watermelon transplants and also protects against any late frosts that may occur.

You're well on your way to showing everyone that it is possible to grow amazingly sweet and large watermelons even in places that are very cold and not at all like an African desert!