THE CHINESE CUCURBITS - Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard - page 23

reason. Because it makes a delicious pickle, it is sometimes called Chinese preserving
melon. Latin American markets may carry it under the name calabaza China .
All parts of the winter melon vine can be eaten — young leaves and flower buds
as well as immature and mature fruits. The somewhat bitter seeds are an acquired taste,
but it's worth toasting a batch to see how you like them.
Grow a few vines just for fun. It's very decorative in the garden and sensational in
the kitchen. You can use it in everyday dishes ranging from soup to relish tray to main
vegetable, limited only by your own imaginative approach to cooking. Most amazing is
its keeping quality. Properly stored, it will stay fresh for a whole year.
Appearance
Winter melon grows on a single , somewhat hairy vine, rather than the branched vines
of other melons. It's easy to train on a fence or other support, where it takes up much
less room than on the ground (and also helps prevent rotting).
The melon itself is very large. It may reach 12 inches long and 8 inches wide at
maturity and weigh as much as 25 pounds. Oblong or round in shape, it starts out a
pretty green that gradually becomes coated with a white waxy substance as it matures.
The flesh is white and looks something like a honeydew, although it tastes more like a
slightly sweet zucchini, if you can imagine that.
How to Grow
Getting started. Winter melon is a warm-weather crop and (like most melons) requires
a long growing season, about 150 days. If you won't have enough warm weather before
the fall frosts, start the seeds indoors. Set out as soon as the ground has warmed up and
all danger of frost is past. If you grow watermelon, set out winter melon at about the
same time, or a little earlier.
Planting. If sown outdoors, plant seeds 1 inch deep and 8 to 10 inches apart. Like bitter
melon, winter melon requires rich, fertilized soil to grow well. One way to assure a
good crop is to dig a trench 8 to 10 inches deep and fill it with 4 inches of a high-nitro-
gen fertilizer mixed with compost or well-rotted manure. Mix the remaining soil with
the same compost-fertilizer blend and fill in the trench. Then sow the seeds. Water thor-
oughly and keep watered until seedlings appear.
Growing needs. Moisture is essential for good fruit production; keep ground moist at
all times. Water weekly — even more often in dry weather. If you don't have too many
vines, try sinking a coffee can with holes punched all around the sides and the bottom
removed in the ground between each vine. Fill this can with water several times when
you do your regular watering; the results will amaze you.