The melon man from Lake Constance

The fruit grower from Lindau on Lake Constance reveals how an experiment led to the successful cultivation of honeydew melons, watermelons and mini kiwis.

No magic: 'Gandalf' is sugary sweet, juicy and bright orange. Of course, this is not the mythical creature from Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", but one of the three honeydew melon varieties that grow in the large foil tunnel on the Willhalm fruit farm in Streitelsfingen on the outskirts of Lindau. In 2017, the master gardener began experimenting with mini kiwis and then melons. Strictly speaking, these are considered vegetables rather than fruit and belong to the gourd family. Melons are therefore also related to cucumbers. Initially, the fruit grower started with just under 50 melon plants. He now grows 500 plants of different varieties each year, mainly water melons and honeydew melons.

The pre-breeding of the honeydew melon seedlings begins for the young Lindauer in April. After the Ice Saints, at the beginning of May, they are planted in six rows in the foil tunnel. The fruit grower prepares the planting area, which is protected from wind and rain, anew each year. "We lay tape fabric throughout the tunnel. This lets water through, but not weeds," explains Willhalm junior. He uses his irrigation system to distribute water with pinpoint accuracy and, if necessary, the mineral liquid fertiliser that gives the plants strength. "The first variety is ripe from mid-July. Then the harvest continues until the end of September." One plant produces four to five melons per season. "Honeydew melons like it warm, but not too wet. The polytunnel provides these conditions. If it wasn't too cold in winter, I could harvest ripe melons almost all year round."

Watermelons are even less complicated. They have a thicker, insensitive skin and thrive outside in the Willhalms' open field, just like the mini kiwis.

First experiences with growing melons

Daniel Willhalm, who runs the farm with his parents, his grandmother, a permanent employee, several market helpers and seasonal workers, remembers the experimental phase: "Back then, I pulled the herbaceous melon plants up on a string. It looked good, but it was extremely time-consuming." In the meantime, the plants with their yellow blossoms climb metres above the dark protective fabric directly above the ground and develop fruit - sometimes the size of a baseball, sometimes the size of a grapefruit.

Just like the apples, pears, plums, raspberries or the tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and cucumbers, the farm sells its melons and kiwi berries every week at the markets in Kempten, Füssen, Lindenberg and directly from the farm to end consumers.

"At first, our customers were sceptical and assumed that the melons were not as juicy and sweet as the fruit that comes to us from southern Europe. But we only harvest our fruit when it is really ripe. The produce from southern Europe is transported unripe and then ripens. This has a negative effect on the flavour," explains the 30-year-old. And another advantage: "Our fruit doesn't have to be transported thousands of kilometres. This makes them much more sustainable and climate-friendly," says Daniel Willhalm happily.

Masterpiece on mini kiwis

His seven varieties of mini kiwis are also extremely popular at the markets. "I even wanted to write my master's thesis on the fruit, but it was rejected because my examiners weren't familiar with them," says the farmer. He has now gained a lot of experience with the fruits, which have a very smooth skin and are no bigger than a thumb or a raspberry. "They grow outside on trellises and are frost-hardy. Only if there are late frosts in April and they are just starting to sprout can the harvest later be smaller or even fail completely," explains Willhalm. In May in particular, the mini kiwis are the focus of many insects. "That's when they bloom and attract an incredible number of bees and other small animals." September is harvest time. "Unfortunately, the fruit on a bush doesn't ripen evenly. That's why I measure their sugar content and then decide when to harvest them. The kiwi berries that are not yet ripe are placed in cold storage to ripen."

Daniel Willhalm's love of experimentation is far from over. "This spring, we want to try our hand at the big kiwis." Considering that the fruit farm was still a dairy farm in the 1970s, it has undergone a huge transformation in the last 50 years. "Who knows what else we'll be growing in the future," muses Daniel Willhalm. "In any case, I have a wonderful job and can observe how our fruit and vegetables develop all year round." But he can't exert 100 per cent influence. "One storm and a harvest can be destroyed. Just like last year, when a wind of 140 kilometres per hour blew our polytunnel apart. There was nothing left to save." The only thing left to do is visit his sister's practice. She is a physiotherapist and can treat her brother's tense muscles after a hard day's work.