I wouldn't put depressions in the ground where your mulch is going to be. Reason is that the mulch has to be in tight contact with the soil to get the best effect of warming it. With the depressions, the soil-mulch contact would be reduced. Most people I've seen use drip irrigation with plastic mulches. Lay out your drip hose along where you want your plants, put some soil to cover it a little, leaving the garden hose attachment end and a little bit of drip hose sticking out at one end of the bed. Then put down your IRT mulch. Make sure to mark it carefully so you don't accidently damage the hose as you work with your bed. A paint pen works well for that. That way, any time you need to water, just attach your garden hose to your drip hose and let it run for a bit. Place a pie pan under the exposed part of your drip hose to monitor how much you're giving. It's important to remember that plastic mulches do not let water escape quickly so you can over water your plants if you're not careful. You can use a moisture monitor to help you decide if watering is needed or not.

If you aren't worried about being early and have a long season, by all means direct seed. Direct seeding works well for an early crop in a sunny climate. Black ground cover and clear poly over that properly managed can provide melons 4-6 weeks earlier than normal. In a climate with lots of cloudy weather transplants probably have some advantages but the soil still needs to be warm at transplanting. Some type of black ground cover and/or clear heat trap will help even with transplants. I've had great success direct seeding very early in a sunny climate but it's a lot of work if you want to gain 4-6 weeks. Gaining a couple weeks earlier maturity is much easier.

I grew them once, quite a few years back (probably late 1990's), just to see them grow. I wasn't EVER brave enough to try cooking and eating one, though. They were incredibly easy to grow, and yielded a bunch of fruits, some of which, towards the fall, exploded with the best reddish-orange goo coming out of them. I think the kind I grew was the "balsam pear" type. In Toronto area, I would just plant them indoors about 4 weeks ahead of time, under a grow-light, and then transplant outdoors after danger of frost. Just start them like you would other cucurbits, 2 to 3 seeds in a four inch pot, thinning to the best two. Moderate root disturbance is ok when transplanting, but try not to damage them if possible. You can grow them on the ground, but they're a lot happier with some type of trellis or support. If I ever try growing them again, I might actually get brave and try eating them. Just can't get over the "bitter" part -- when my eggplant get bitter, I throw them out. Dennis SE Michigan

plenty warm, let 'em out! i assume that you will be pot growing these? neither aurea nor nigra will survive in the chicago area in-ground. if the 'golden' you have is one of the aureosulcata forms then it will do as well as anything but golden is the common name for aurea but is often used for other bamboo. aurea and nigra are zone 7, perhaps 6b bamboos but neither winters over here in zone 6a, ignore the temperature ratings usually given for these, both fail before you get down to 0F, the nigra is actually hardier than the aurea.