"SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA wrote in message
...

"Dale P" wrote in message
...
"SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA wrote in message
...
I live on a sand dune, basically. Fine sand, lava, and caliche. But
lots of piled red sand in Southern Utah. Just like beach sand, only red.

I want to grow melons. Watermelons, cantaloupe, and any other melon
that will grow.

I have two acres, and my irrigation water is expensive at $8 per month
for unlimited quantity.

When planting melon hills on such terrain, what should I do? Should I
take a couple bags of garden soil they sell at the nurseries and mix it
in where I plant the seeds? Maybe a little fertilizer? I will be doing
this repeatedly over the years I last, so will making the soil better
each year help the yield, or is this a crop that needs to be alternated
or rested? Or planted in a new place each year? The nutrients in the
soil are very poor, and plant matter would be 2% on the high guess. I
would like to get some good melons the first year, and after that if the
beds are prepared right.

Can anyone give me some good advice?


Mulch around each hill with wood chips, bark, grass clippings, or any
organic mulch. As each year goes by, turn the mulch into the soil and
mulch the top with new mulch. This will build up organic matter in your
soil.

I do not consider $8 a month as expensive water at all!!

Good luck,

DP

It's not good for humans to drink, but the plants like it. It's part of
the local rural farm irrigation system. $100 a year flat rate. You can
only hook up a 4" line, though.

Steve


In our area (Colorado) that is cheap for water. I had a two acre site many
years ago with a well. The well did not put out much water, and it was not
potable, and the electric charge was more than $8 per month. Of course, I
did not have a bill in the winter months as no usage. Anyway, sounds good
to me for a product delivered to your land.

I worked for a produce farmer in the early 1970's. The one thing I remember
was that he said that cantaloupe (and maybe other melons) had to have bees
to pollinate. He would call a local bee keeper and request some hives be
set near the melon fields when they came into bloom. Something to keep in
mind.

Good luck with you project.

DP