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Re: watermelons, trying new veggies

>I'm impressed.  I try to grow about 3-4 new varieties of tomatoes each
year in
>addition to the locally accepted standards.  Most dont do that well here
>except for Carmello, that for the last two years has out-performed my loyal
>favorites. 

Try open pollinated tomatoes, one or two at a time.  The seeds wouldn't
have been saved for generations if the tomatoes had been especially
vulnerable to disease or hadn't been good tasting.  Give me your snail mail
address, and I'll send you a couple of varieties that I think will do well
for you.  (Yes, I also save seeds)

 I guess I must add it to my list of regulars.  MOst varieties of
>veggies are not bred for coastal california,  so it is hit and miss to find
>good varieties that work here.  But it is fun trying.  I'm still looking
for a
>good bell pepper suited to my environment.

My favorite used to be Ariane, but the last time I bought seeds, the price
had suddenly doubled (Nichols Garden Nursery), and they didn't germinate
worth a darn either.  
>
>Margaret,  what do you do with all of your 100 chiles?  Are you able to
>overwinter any in Idaho?

Yes, I have a greenhouse.  I'm up close and personal with whiteflies
year-around.  Sigh.

>Thanks for the book suggestion.  I enjoy genetic puzzles.  
>
>janet.
>
Janet, I want to give you and other veggie growers another book suggestion,
too.  It's William Woys Weaver's "Heirloom Vegetable Gardening."  I've
grown veggie gardens for nearly 30 years, and this book has surprise after
surprise in it for me.  It was first published in 1997, and is expensive
($40 at Borders), but full of information and recipes you won't find
anywhere else.  I wish I'd read this 30 years ago, before I first started
veggie gardening.  My veggie garden will be different next year, thanks to
this book.  Carol Deppe's "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" is a '93
publication, available in paperback for $18.95.  

Margaret, in southwest Idaho (zone 5 or 6, sometimes 4)
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