The Paesana di Soleto in the Greenhouse:

From the moment that I learned about the Paesana di Soleto, I was highly interested in growing it. The odd shaped fruit with incredibly tender texture interested me. This variety, introduced to me by Gino DiMitri, comes from a town very close to Galatina, where the Meloncella Galatina comes from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the foliage of the Galatina is not altogether unique, the flowers definitely are. This is something that cannot be easily noticed, unless the gardener has the time to spend with the plants. In this case, I had plenty of time before the main season began, so I took the opportunity to do a little more observation than I normally would. Though the male flowers of the Paesana exhibit the typical yellow petals and fluffy pollen-producing anthers, the female flowers are quite different. In most muskmelons, there is just female stigma. But these flowers also possess the anthers – meaning that they are hermaphrodites or perfect flowers, able to be pollinated by moving the pollen from the stigma to the style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the female flowers began fruiting I noticed that the Paesana looked so much like the Meloncella Galatina, that I was nearly positive that the two must be the same. However, around the same time, my friend Guiseppe was growing both the Galatina and the Paesana side-by-side. This enabled him to notice that the Paesana had a much more uniform color while the Galatina was much more splotched. Without this information, I may have never pursued growing the Galatina this summer, which was one of the best decisions I made with my garden the entire season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all this being said, my growing of the Paesana di Soleto in the greenhouse was otherwise uneventful. I was able to harvest enough seed that, if anything happened to the original seed that I received in my first summer planting, I would still be able to have enough to plant a second time before the end of the season.

Spring in the Greenhouse

I usually begin thinking about planting into the greenhouse in March, just over a month before starting my plants for planting out in the plots. This spring I decided to try growing the Paesana di Soleto and a Russian cucumbermelon in the greenhouse. Then I began growing out my cucumber varieties for transplant from soil blocks. Finally – later on – I decided to try growing a few other cucumber varieties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike other years I grew in the greenhouse, I decided to try to make the most of the time that I had in order to make sure that I could take advantage of as much space as possible by interplanting lettuce in between the hydroponic baskets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, later on in the season, I tried growing a couple last-minute varieties. One of these turned out some seeds while the other did not. 

 

 

 

 

 

Favas above and Favas Below

There are a number of reasons why fava beans are of my very favorite crops to grow. First is that the seeds are very easy to handle. With seeds so large, they are very easy to sow and work with. The second reason is that the plants germinate relatively quickly. Within a week or two I can see the results of my planting. Third, they are relatively hardy. In northern California, they can grow primarily off of winter rains and tend to deal with pest pressure more than other cover crops. And my very favorite thing about fava beans as a cover crop is how much they improve the soil. Whether I only have a month or five months, the residue of fava beans works as fertilizer, as mulch and as compost. The fact that the beans can be consumed is just a bonus.

 

 

Here are some pictures of my “Robin Hood” Fava beans that I took in four gardens in the winter of 2022 to 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

The first pictures are of a garden that I started in a one yard grape bin at a friend’s house. This macro grape bin replaced a macro cubic yard bag full of high-quality compost. The majority of the growing medium in the bag was from compost.

 

 

 

This second group of pictures is from an above-ground garden that I established in 2020 using cinderblocks made for holding wood boards for a planter bed. They are both above-ground beds that I established in the front yard of a friend’s home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third group of pictures is my own little backyard plot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the last group of fava beans was grown at the friend’s garden that I call the “Fertile Garden” because it is just that. I would really have difficulty growing what I do without access to this garden plot. The final crop of Robin Hood Fava beans that I grew was harvested in late May and was the source of much of my future seed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether grown in the ground or in an above-ground planter, fava beans are a fantastic crop to grow in cool weather. If you have never grown them before, I would highly recommend it!