Adventures Up North
When we moved to northern Minnesota 15 years ago, we had limited expectations as to what we could grow with a short season and cold winters. However, we’ve been pleasantly surprised to find some cultivars that have done exceptionally well for us.
Our ‘Goddess Hybrid’ muskmelon has consistently produced 4 to 8 pounds of sweet melons. By starting the plants indoors, we get a head start on the growing season. Then, we hand-pollinate the first female blossoms and only leave two or three melons on each plant. By staggering the planting by a couple of weeks, our harvest period is extended. We use the same method for ‘Blacktail Mountain’ watermelon. Many of our melons weigh over 10 pounds and are very sweet if they’re allowed to fully ripen. This cultivar is open-pollinated.
In searching for corn to grind into flour and cornmeal, we found ‘Painted Mountain,’ a flint corn developed over a 40-year period from a gene pool of more than 70 strains of native corn. It has a short growing season that allows the cobs to ripen and dry out, even in Zone 3a. As its name suggests, its ears have many different colors
