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Vegetable Variety Pages: | Beans - Carrot | Cauliflower - Corn |Cucumber - Peas Peppers - Squash |Tomato - Watermelon
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This page: 2009 Planting Guide, When to Start Seed, When to Set Out
		Wyogrow...where the tough get growing, by Fred Jacquot
I have been an active gardener in the Casper area now for over 30 years. Back when I first started no one could tell a beginner what kind of carrots or tomatoes grew best here. Because I have been taking notes all these years, you can find out what plants do best in Wyoming on the 'vegetable varieties' pages, whose links are above.
Along with my partners Mark McAtee and Paul Combe I have done a lot of experimenting and research. You can find the results of this activity on these many pages. Please click on the links and start viewing our work. I think you will find that there is a huge amount of information available here for you. Enjoy!

2010 Notes:

July 5, 2010

A regular reader from Idaho sends this note.

"Fred,

Boy, you are a positive cuss.

I'm on the other side of the Rockies in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

This has been the coldest, rainiest Spring/Summer I can remember.

I got the peas & onions in fairly early. They've done fine. Onions look really good. Peas are flowering and look really, really good.

Everything else has struggled.

I've got tomatoes & potatoes with blight. I think most will make it. It has been a struggle to get squashes to germinate. Had to finally buy starts. Melons? Hah! Cucumbers are limping along o.k.

Beans did come up but barely have their second leaves starting. Peppers seem to ok. And, eggplants too. Go figure.

Broccoli -- lost most of the Packman to buttoning. But, replanted with Premiums and some Cauliflower. Seem to be doing fine since.

Carrots look good. But, lettuce, spinach, radishes (radishes!), kohlrabi and beets --- ugh. Spotty germination. Some have come up, grown and died. A few scattered lettuce look great.

Berries should be real solid. Strawberries and raspberries are probably two or three weeks out.

Rough year. I've had three or four hail storms. It seems to rain every two or three days. When it got hot a few days ago, lost a few of everything (I don't think they knew what the sun was).

I'm actually glad this year that I can go to the store as a backup.

But, just a few summer squash will put the smile back on my face. And, peas are just around the corner (yum!).

Steve"

Regular readers know that I keep a degree-day chart each year. I have chosen the base temperature of 50 degrees (F.) because I don't think plants do much growing below that temperature.

Degree days are the cumulative average temperatures above the set base (50 in this case). I always begin counting degree days on May 25, Casper's last average day of frost. If on May 25 the average temperature was 62 degrees, that would be 12 degrees above 50 and the cumulative total would be 12. If on May 26 the average temperature was 64 degrees, that is 14 degrees above 50 . I add that 14 to the 12 I already have, and the degree days for May 26 would be 26. Adding the degrees above the base together is what makes degree-days cumulative.

Here is the 2010 degree-day chart.

MAY	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	JUNE 1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
HIGH	58	55	58	48	61	73	79	85	85	67	70	67	71	70	77	76	74	83	73
LOW	41	44	31	36	37	34	47	47	46	28	38	53	44	48	52	49	43	45	50
AVER. 2009	49.5	49.5	44.5	42	49	53.5	63	66	65.5	47.5	54	60	57.5	59	64.5	62.5	58.5	64	61.5
DD (50)					-1	2.5	15.5	31.5	47	44.5	48.5	58.5	66	75	89.5	102	110.5	124.5	136

JUNE	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
HIGH	68	64	60	46	49	65	76	84	64	75	76	80	83	71	77	90	90
LOW	42	56	48	44	43	43	39	45	45	43	43	57	48	45	42	45	49
AVER. 20010	56	60	52	45	46	53.5	57.5	64.5	54.5	59	59.5	68.5	65.5	58	59.5	67.5	69.5
DD (50)	142	152	154	149	145	148.5	156	170.5	175	164	173.5	192	207.5	215.5	225	242.5	262

JUNE	26	27	28	29	30	JULY1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
HIGH	80	80	85	93	93	85	88	83	64
LOW	60	47	49	52	65	58	58	53	45
AVER. 2009	70	63.5	67	72.5	79	71.5	73	68	54.5
DD (50)	282	295.5	312.5	335	364	385.5	408.5	426.5	431

- - This year's Degree Days compared to past years - -

		Degree Days Through June 30		Through July 15		Through July 31		Through August 15		Through August 31		Through Sept. 19
		This Period	Running Total	This Period	Running Total	This Period	Running Total	This Period	Running Total	This Period	Season Total	This Period	Season Total
2010		364	364
2009		327	327	258.5	585.5	256	841.5	267	1108.5	216	1324.5	254.5	1579
2008		292.5	292.5	281	573.5	387	960.5	289	1249.5	282.5	1532	96	1628
2007		431.5	431.5	348.5	780	400.5	1180.5	344.5	1525	278.5	1803.5	277.5	2081
2006		567.5	567.5	332.5	900	426.5	1326.5	308.5	1635	294.5	1929.5	131.5	2061
2005		333.5	333.5	297	630.5	360	990.5	256.5	1247	240	1487	242.5	1729.5
2004		314	314	270	584	269	853	275.5	1128.5	197.5	1326	246	1572
2003		401.5	401.5	307.5	709	399	1108	388	1496	317.5	1813.5	146.5	1960
2002		528	528	360	888	364	1252	278	1530	262	1792	248	2040

June 28, 2010

I have been busy replanting where germination did not occur. The worst was the Espada Bean. This is a great bean, perhaps the best I've ever experienced. But, it is a bugger to germinate. We will not be planting it next season. Some of the squash and all the pumpkin are slow. I have replanted and will give them a week to pop up.

For five years we tried numerous pole beans without a lot of success. Then, three years after we gave up...and destroyed the Taj Mah Bean structure, some runner/pole beans came up volunteer in parter Linda's plot. I saved the seeds, and planted them this year. They are up like gang busters.

We have had a failure of germination in the Verona Watermelon. The Dixie Queen melons are up just fine. When I went to replace the Veronas I discovered that they were putting out roots, just very slowly. I plugged in some nice Crimson Sweet plants in their place.

I also noticed that the onion plants I ordered in had been nipped. Butch said the problem was probably due to over fertilization. I had added some nice horse manure to that bed. He was right. The manure is killing the Yellow Spanish Onions. But the white onion sets I put in their place are growing just fine. Go figure!

June 22, 2010

I knew that plants did their growing at night. But Barry Franck of Westside Nursery tells me that his reading reveals that they do their growing mostly in the first four hours of the night. That would indicate that the best time to water would be just before nightfall.

June 9, 2010

I now, finally have most everything planted. The corn will be about the last to go in. If you have not planted yet, do so. It is not too late. I notice that the Spirea in town (Casper) has been blooming for over a week now, and is just now in full bloom. It is as sure an indicator as there is for when to plant tomatoes.

Companion Planting

We routinely plant our radish in rows between our broccoli or cabbage. Not only are they good companions, (they are fellow brassicas) but the bigger plants help shade the radish and thus extend our radish season. I will be planting carrot and onion between my peppers and tomatoes this year. But please do keep the onions away from the brassicas and the nightshades (tomatom, pepper, eggplant, tomatilla, garden huckleberry, etc.). Last season I noted that marigolds inhibited the growth of my peppers, but did not bother the tomatoes. Companion Planting is one way to get our beds to be more productive, it allows more intensive planting to take place in our raised beds.

June 2, 2010

We are late getting our garden in. I am not worried about that because our soil temperatures are not very high yet because of the cool and wet Spring we have had. I notice that the fruiting trees in the Casper area are magnificent this year. Along Garden Creek the Chokecherry are heavy with blossoms, and the Current bushes are blooming like I have not seen in decades.

.....

In my last comments I posted a note from a gardener in Greybull. She came across the recommended list of vegetables on the University of Wyoming Extension Site. I give the link below.

http://ces.uwyo.edu/HomeHorticulture.asp

I have a problem with this list. I can state that thirty years ago this list did not exist. I asked my Extension agent repeatedly for it. So, this list has been 'put together' sometime in the last 30 years. I could be very wrong, and please dear readers DO correct me if I am, but I strongly suspect that no amount of time was given to the formation of the list...no trials were ever held by the Extension Service, the University of Wyoming, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. What I suspect is that at some point someone was appointed the task of making up the list. That person or persons simply asked around. That does, of course, not make the list wrong. But I would have a lot more confidence in it, and I would be a lot more confident referring readers to the list, if I knew what kind of testing was done before the list came to be. When you click on any of my Vegetable Varieties links you will see specific varieties we recommend. That recommendation comes only after we have grown that variety and it has performed very well for us. Some of the varieties we recommend have been grown by us for well over a decade. In addition, we are always trialing new (to us) varieties.

.......

It is typical that early plans for the garden fall apart. This season the plan for the Peppers is in trouble. I am scrambling to find replacement pepper plants right now. So expect some changes in that area. I will change the Planting Guide, at the bottom of this page, once I have all the peppers in.

May 25, 2010

For the Casper area, today is the Average Last Day of Frost. I personally am in no big hurry to plant things. The ground is just too cold. Yesterday, in the big rain, there were a few snow flakes mixed in.

Here is a note from a reader:

"I just stumbled across your site and enjoyed it imensely--especially after seeing the snow much of the State received. I grew up and lived in Lander in the sixties to early 80s. While the frost took things very late in the Spring and much too early in the Fall, we did have some pretty good success with our garden--although it seems like it really did warm up some in the State after I left.

I live in S. Utah now and have a small dryland experiment going with almonds, pistachios, pomegranites, grapes and summer melons and squash. I sure dont miss fighting the cold. Our last frost last year was April 10th and first was in early November.

Keep on gardening."

Here is another note:

"Hello from Greybull. I just recently discovered your site. I like it and find the content to be very useful. Thank you for your efforts. It is reassuring to know that there are others in Wyoming daring to use raised beds and companion plants. Being a transplant from Missouri and married to the son of a farmer, my gardening adventures here in the Big Horn Basin will no longer feel like such a solo effort.

Ironically, at the same time I discovered your website, I found the Horticulture link on the University of Wyoming's Extension site. Another great find in my book. So my question is, how come to don't refer to it rather than another state's extension site? I thought it quite useful, especially the part about seed varieties that do well here. Not a criticism, just a question.

Even after 30 years I know I still have a lot to learn. Maybe that is why you use other extension sites and why you continue to try other seed varieties. Or maybe it is because it is so difficult to find the varieties that the Wyo site recommends. I hope you will line me out on this as I am pretty fed up with having to take whatever is offered by the locals. One would think that there would be some attention paid to what is sold. But that is whole other subject albeit one that I have strong feelings about and would like to discuss with someone else whom it bothers. You may or may not be that person.

For now I would be happy just to know how you feel about the other website and what it has to offer in terms of varieties. Thanks. I hope I haven't scared you off."

No, you haven't scared me off. When I google the Extension Service, my first selection is their main, or index page.

http://ces.uwyo.edu/

Now, when I go there, the first thing I notice is that there is no button for home gardening. If I type in 'gardening' into the search field provided, I am led back to my original google search. If I hit the 'horiculture' button on the top of the main page, nothing happens except that a brief window tells me about the page I can not get to.

After a lot of hunting and pecking (something I am good at, because I built web pages for the Casper Star-Tribune and Trib.Com for ten years) I found this page.

http://ces.uwyo.edu/HomeHorticulture.asp

From this page one can download some informative pdf materials. But, I dare say that the average internet user will never be able to find his way to this page. And that is why I don't link to the University of Wyoming Extension pages. Like most of the University Extension, these pages reflect a heavy beaurocracy, that is meant to serve the farmer and rancher, not the vast majority of people who live in Wyoming and who might happen to like gardening.

I have long thought that the University was missing a bet with the Extension Service. There are a lot of home gardeners in Wyoming who would benefit from a good service, and UW would reap a lot of good PR from the effort. What I envision is at least four test-plot sites around the state which would test grow different varieties of vegetables, and even flowers, and report their findings each year. This is what our WyoGrow.Com does, but on a much smaller scale. Gardeners could visit the test-plots in their local areas and even visit others around the state to see for themselves how the variety tests were going.

May 12, 2010

I AM WYOMING, THE CRUSHER OF DAFFODILS. We have an inch of snow this morning and more is falling. It is not sticking to the pavement, but it is sticking to the daffodils and tulips.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 5 snows, 3 sleets, blossoms half faded
My Daffodils: 2 snows, 3 sleets, blossoms half faded.

May 8, 2010

Last night set a record for cold on this date: 18 degrees. Spring is very slow to arrive. We've not had many warm days. We had sleet the night of May 4-5, and some stuck to the roof of my car. I now have onions, leeks, and lettuce planted.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 4 snows, 3 sleets, blossoms half faded
My Daffodils: 1 snow, 3 sleets, blossoms half faded.

April 30, 2010

We had sleet on Tuesday (27th). Today we had snow, and some of it stuck on my daffodils.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 4 snows, 2 sleets, blossoms half faded
My Daffodils: 1 snow, 2 sleets, blossoms

April 26, 2010

Today I noticed my first flowering bush/tree. Yesterday we had cold temps and quite a lot of sleet, though it did not stick to my daffodils.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 3 snows, 1 sleet, blossoms half faded
My Daffodils: 1 sleet, blossoms, no snow yet.

April 19, 2010

Today I noticed the following:

• Some, but not all willows along Garden Creek are starting to leaf out.
• The Silverleaf Maples are all heavy with cattydids now.
• Some, but not all, Cottonwoods are swelling before leafing out.
• Black Birds have returned to town.
• Robins [the ones that migrated] returned to town about a week before the Black Birds.
• My first Bumblebee of the season.
• Currents and Chokecherries along Garden Creek are starting to leaf out.
• My first Wasp of the season.

Here is a recent note from Barry Franck at Westside Nursery.

"I harvested the first head of broccoli today. Tomatoes are getting big [starts]. The Sweet 100 will be going into 1 gallon pots in the next week or two, the tomato in the self-watering pot is now 3"-4" high. Radishes are up that I planted last week. Eggplant has a bud on it but no flower. Fred's peppers are being slow but are coming up. I replanted some of my peppers hope they will be up in time. I have finished putting the broccoli, cabbage and kohlrabi in 3" pots.

Now for outside the greenhouse. The ruhbarb I planted last year is starting to come up, so it looks like it might make it. I will be able to make hoop houses/cold frames any size you want starting in June [Barry is aquiring a bender].

Barry"

April 17, 2010

People are already asking me if it is time to plant. The last average day for frost in Casper is May 25. May 1st is probably a good time to plant broccoli, carrots, lettuce, and onions. Peas will do better if planted about May 18.

Today my daffodils, with the northern exposure started to open their blossoms.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 3
My Daffodils: blossoms, but no snow yet.

April 7, 2010

Yesterday morning there was a thin coating of snow on my neighbor's daffodils. That's Two.
After a melt yesterday, there was snow on my neighbor's daffodils this morning. That's Three.

Snowcount:

Neighbor's Daffodils: 3
My Daffodils: No blossoms yet.

April 4, 2010

Snowcount: This morning there was snow on my neighbor's daffodil blossoms. That's One.

April 3, 2010

I have often said on these pages that Spring has not truely come to those of us in Wyoming until the the daffodils have been snowed upon at least three times. My neighbor across the street has daffodils, as do I. His have a nice southern exposure. Mine have a northern exposure. So, his tend to bloom before mine. My gardening partner, Mark McAtee just sent me an email asking if our snow two days ago counts as 'one'. No it does not. My neighbor's daffodils did not have open blossoms during the recent storm, so that storm does not count. Also bear in mind that it can, and often does, snow on the daffodils more than three times. This is lousy daffodil country. Our climate is easier on tulips because they tend to bloom later.

March 29, 2010

Barry Franck at Westside Nursery wanted me to give an explanation of Days to Maturity. This information is given as a number. The tricky thing is that there are two different kinds.

1. Days to Maturity for Direct Seeded:

When you direct seed carrots or lettuce, that is you put the seed into the soil where the plant is going to grow to maturity, the DTM (Days to Maturity) is usually given on the seed packet or in the catalog for that variety. There is usually a wide range of DTM even for one given variety. That is because the different catalog outfits all test the same seed in different places. Those seed companies that test in just one place will have a DTM that is consistent for the climate for the company's home office. Other seed companies test seed in a variety of climates and then average the DTM. Anyway, if the given DTM is 70 days, you should be able to start picking mature vegetables that many days after the seed is directly sown.

2. Days to Maturity for Set Out Plants:

The DTM for varieties that are commonly set out into the garden as partially mature plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, starts at set out time. The the real DTM for these varieties is a much bigger number than the one given by the seed company. It assumes that you, or you local greenhouse, will start the plant 6 to 10 weeks before the proper set-out-time. So, when the DTM starts for these varieties, they are already 42 to 70 days old.

There is, of course, a caveat. We, in Wyoming live in a harsh climate. Please go to my One Third Rule to see how that climate affects the DTM. Basically, what that rule says is that to get a realistic idea for the DTM for a variety here in Casper, you should:

• Add one third to the days to maturity. AND/OR
• Subtract one third from the fruit size.

........................

About Climate:

The three big factors for success in the garden are: Selection, Soil, Weather. Let me expand (more) on the third.

The One Third Rule and the Climate/Conditions page deal with the climate factor. We are stuck with the cool climate that nature provides.

About Climate Modification:

There are things we can do to modify for, and make up for a harsh climate. Click Here To See Our Tomato Support System. Here you will see two ideas at work: Trellising and Tubes. Trellising vegetables allows the plant to have more exposure to heat and light than it would otherwise get. The Tubes we use are thick walled. They keep the chilling wind off the newly set-out plants, they absorb heat in the day and radiate it back to the plants at night, they direct water directly to the roots and allow for some deep soaking to occur in very hot weather, and they keep cut worms from attacking the plants.

We also will build 'tents' over the watermelon and musk melon. These tents are curved wire grids to which we have applied saran wrap. This traps a lot of heat...and the heat-loving melons love it. By mid-summer then plants are out growing the tents, and we remove the tents to let the vines run.

March 20, 2010

I have been to visit Barry Franck at Westside Nursery. He gave me a bag of fresh lettuce he was growing in his basement under grow lights. He also had carrots and broccoli growing. Barry and my partners and I will be trialling some peppers this coming season and I will let you all know of the results. I have also visited recently with Bill Simpson. He and we will be trialling some new (to us) tomatoes. Again, I will let you all know of the results on these pages.

About soils:

The three big factors for success in the garden are: Selection, Soil, Weather. Let me expand (more) on the second.

On this Soils page I have provided a discussion about soils, and how to mix the different elements for particular crops in your garden. Selection may be the most important factor for success. But soils are also very important.

Next month I will be moving large amounts of manure into our plots down by the Fairgrounds to boost those soils. Adding manure not only improves the nutrients available to the plants, but also increases soil temperatures. I realized last season that our soils were getting 'tired' and needed a manure boost. Do not neglect this in your garden. Barry Franck had tremendous success with cucumbers in a cold season last year simply by adding lots of manure.

February 6, 2010

The three big factors for success in the garden are: Selection, Soil, Weather. Let me expand (more) on the first.

The reason Bill Simpson grows Bloody Butcher Tomato in his garden is because this variety has performed well, year after year. It produces loads of smaller tomatoes that are a bit tart, a flavor that Bill really likes. It produces tomatoes earlier than other plants and the production is consistently strong throughout the rest of the season. Bloody Butcher rated a Two Star in our 2009 Taste Trials. When I say it performs year after year, that means it does well in warm and cool seasons. Nothing seems to slow this one down.

Here are links to my Vegetable Variety Pages:

Beans - Carrot

Cauliflower - Corn

Cucumber - Peas

Peppers - Squash

Tomato - Watermelon

On each page I recommend specific varieties and list varieties we are considering. On the left side of each variety listing are four-letter codes and a number. The four-letter code is a link to the site of a seed vendor that offers the variety in its catalog. The number is the 'days' that company lists for that variety to reach maturity. For plants like tomatoes and pepper, which are not usually direct seeded, the number represents the days to maturity from the time the start (already started) plant is set out into the bed. I list all of this information as an aid to you, fellow gardener, to help you find varieties that will work in your Wyoming garden.

February 2, 2010

The Natrona County Master Gardeners were very kind to send me a certificate of appreciation for the work I have done to educated other gardeners. Thank you Master Gardeners.

I am getting ready to order seeds and plants now. I have changed my mind about trialling Burpee's Brandy Boy for another season. 2009 was a cold season. We get those. It did not produce well in those conditions. I may get back to it and give it another try some year...just not in 2010. I have too many other varieties I would love to try. Instead of Brandy Boy, I am going to try two 'old' varieties: Big Beef and Amish Paste.

The three big factors for success in the garden are: Selection, Soil, Weather. Let me expand on the first.

I list Selection as the first because I feel it is the most important choice a gardener makes. What you plant makes a huge difference in what you get by the end of the season. A good Selection will help to overcome negatives in Soils and Weather. That is why I am constantly reading and re-reading my seed catalogs. I am always searching to improve the productivity of our garden plots, and to improve the quality of what we grow. What is the point of setting a tomato plant out that will not perform well in our climate? Who wants to waste a growing season on a plant that gives you ten tomatoes that don't taste that great? Our main production tomato, Applause, outperforms, per square foot, any other tomato I've seen grow here in Casper. In addition, it got a One-Star rating in our tomato taste trial at the end of the 2009 season. It is a Determinate that really loads up! We grow the Indeterminates to produce better tasting tomatoes than even Applause. And we are constantly looking to improve both production and taste from our Indeterminates. In this process, Selection is everything.

December 26, 2009

What the catalog does not say is very important.

As I said earlier, there are three factors which determine success in the garden: Seed (variety) Selection, Soil, Weather. You have the most control over the first two factors. Your success in choosing the right variety may well begin soon as the catalogs come to your houses. We are in the catalog season. I have received most already, and will get more in the next 4 weeks. I have found that catalogs have to be read very carefully. Let me give you an example. Here is the description of Big Bertha Pepper from the Totally Tomatoes Catalog:

"One of our most popular for fresh market, home gardens and gourmet chefs. Extra-large, mostly 4-lobed, superior fruits mature up to a full 7" long by 3-1/2" across, turning deep green to red, with full-season fruiting. Upright plants grow 25 go 30"."

We grew this pepper for a lot of years. So I can say with authority that everything in the above quote is accurate. But beware. The problem we always had with Big Bertha is that is has very thin walls. There is not much pepper in that pepper. A quick re-read of the description will reveal that Totally Tomatoes never said it did have thick walls. If you want thick walls on your pepper, you had better read the descriptions very carefully to make sure your seed supplier says the pepper has thick walls.

I love it when a description for a vegetable says that it is a 'vigorous grower'. If it does not mention how many fruit it produces, all you may get is a wonderful plant with not much fruit on it. You have to read carefully. The seed catalog will not lie, but it may omit.

.................

I continue to update all these pages as new information pours in from the catalogs. I have recently updated the Bill Simpson page. I have also added a new page: Recipes

Recently I gave six pints of my green tomato salsa to a friend who has to be on a low potassium diet. Red tomatoes have twice the potassium of green tomatoes. If he wants tomatoes in his life at all, he'd better get to growing tomatoes and processing the green ones into salsa.

I discovered the green salsa quite by accident. We always had these hard green tomatoes left over from regular salsa making. They never were going to turn red. So, one year, I processed them into a green salsa. My partners went crazy over the stuff. My daughter thinks I should make it commercially. It is tarter and fruitier than the red, but in its own way it is just as good. It is something to think about making. We find that it is particularly good with pork.

November 8, 2009

Now that the beds are cleared from this past growing season, we begin the next season. For me that means looking at new varieties. This is a process that will continue through the end of January. I am beginning this new season with a search for watermelon.

There is a triumverate of main factors that determine your success in your garden:

1. Seed Choice - what you plant makes a huge difference in what you get

2. Soil - getting the plants what they need in a soil is also critical

3. Climate - weather, and the things you do to combat adverse conditions, determine success

By Spring 2009 I was convinced that the way to grow watermelon in Wyoming is to give it an extra boost of heat, particularly during June, which is usually on the cool side. I did this by building a small tent over each bed. The ten allowed light to enter, but kept heat trapped inside. The watermelon seemed to like this. At the end of the season I got a note from a fellow gardener who raised her watermelons in a hill of pure horse manure. I think one reason she was successful was that the manure, like my tent, gave the watermelon a boost in heat. Also, from what I have been able to read, watermelons are probably the most demanding of all plants in the garden for good rich fertilizer. The horse manure probably filled that need.

The seed catalogs throw a lot of information at you. It can be difficult to sort through all the data from all those sources to determine which variety to plant. I recently did a survey of watermelon from all the catalogs I get. I was looking for red-fleshed watermelon, that have short days-to-maturity, and which get good sized. Of course, the One Third Rule dictates that a 30 pound watermelon will only get to be 20 pounds in Wyoming. But, I would be happy with that. What I am not completely satisfied with is the 12 pound watermelon only growing to be 8 pounds here.

I put the data from the various catalogs into a spread sheet and ran the numbers through a formula, giving advantage to short season and large size. Here are the top ten rated watermelons I found in descending order.

Dixie Queen	Baker Seeds	80 days	40 lbs.	30 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Crimson Sensation	Gurney Seeds	80 days	32.5 lbs.	21 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Stone Mountain	Baker Seeds	80 days	30 lbs.	20 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Million Bucks	Burpee Seeds	78 days	25 lbs.	17 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Crimson Sweet	Burpee Seeds	80 days	25 lbs.	17 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Verona	Baker Seeds	78 days	20 lbs.	13 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Kleckley's Sweet	Baker Seeds	85 days	30 lbs.	20 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Sugar Bowl	Burpee Seeds	85 days	25 lbs.	17 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Fairfax	Baker Seeds	86 days	30 lbs.	20 lbs.(1/3 Rule)
Kleckley's Sweet	Shumway Seeds	87 days	30 lbs.	20 lbs.(1/3 Rule)

2010 Planting Guide

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