Marvelous Melons

Who can resist a sweet, juicy slice of chilled honeydew on a hot summer day? Melons are fun to grow, taste fabulous and are really good for you. A triangle of melon on a Popsicle stick and popped in the freezer until hardened is a great summertime treat. Melon is great in a cool smoothie, with some pineapple and yogurt, maybe a banana and some ice. Yum!

According to Webster's Dictionary, melons are "the large round fruit of various plants of the gourd family, with sweet pulpy flesh and many seeds (honeydew, cantaloupe, muskmelon)." They are vining, warm-season fruits, growing best in regions with long summers. Although both male and female flowers grow on the same plant, bees are necessary for pollination and fruiting. Most melons ripen in late summer or early- to mid-fall. They range in size from slightly larger than a softball to hefty 15-pound varieties, and in color - both outside and inside, with pale grayish-white to very dark green skin and the palest yellow to the brightest orange and green flesh. Their seeds fill the hollow center of the fruit.

Melons are a summertime delight - sweet and juicy fruits - whether freshly picked or cooled in the refrigerator. They’re versatile - more than a dessert or snack - as an ingredient in salads, salsas, side dishes, entrees, and drinks. Even the ripe seeds, dried and toasted, make a healthy snack.

Humankind has been enjoying melons for more than 4,000 years. Surprisingly, melons have never been found growing in the wild - other than escapees from someone's garden. Melons are believed to have originated in the hot valleys of southwest Asia - specifically Iran (Persia) and India. Early American settlers grew cultivars of honeydew and casaba melons back in the 1600s. Yet, only in recent times, many more varieties are available, often out of season in grocery stores. Of course, growing melons from seed gives you the best choice of types and cultivated varieties.
The first documented use of the word "melon" was about 1395. John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins suggests that the word is derived from Melos (the Greek Cyclades Islands, best known for the Venus de Milo). Melons wend their way into literature. In their text, the Mahometans (very early name for the followers of Mohammed) wrote that eating a melon produces a thousand good works.

Melons are vining, warm season plants with fleshy fruits in the Cucurbitaceae family. There are two genera: Citrulius (watermelons) and Cucumis (all other melons.) They bear large round fruit with a pulpy flesh and many seeds. Cantaloupe, honeydew, muskmelon and watermelon are the best-known examples of this family. Melons originated from southwest Asia and have been cultivated for more than 4,000 years. Melons have been pleasing palates since the days of ancient Rome. Crenshaws, honeydews, cantaloupes and all their relatives crave heat and take their time maturing. They'll grow in USDA zone 4 and warmer, but north of zone 7, grow short-season varieties and protect plants from chilly temperatures.

There are numerous types of melons available in various regions around the world. The most popular melons in North America are the cantaloupe, muskmelon and honeydew types. As gardeners travel, they eat new fruits and vegetables and wish to grow the tasty fruits eaten overseas. These unusual types of melons are available primarily from seed. Look for these distinct types in mail-order catalogs or seed packets sold in retail stores.

ANANAS MELONS (a.k.a. Middle Eastern melons) are oval shaped with medium-fine netting over pale green to orange rind. Very sweet, aromatic white flesh. One variety has orange-pink flesh. Average weight is three to four pounds.

ATHENA CANTALOUPES are Eastern U.S. cantaloupes. They are early maturing, oval-shaped; yellow-orange summer melons with firm, thick, yellow-orange flesh. The skin is slightly sutured with coarse netting. Average weight is 5 to 6 pounds. Left on the vine or harvested, the flesh remains firm.

CANARY MELONS (a.k.a. Spanish, Juan Canary, Jaune des Canaries, and San Juan canary melons), have bright yellow rinds and an oblong shape. Inside, the pale, cream-colored flesh is juicy, and the flavor is very mild.

CASABA MELONS The oval shape with a pointy end, coupled with wrinkled yellow skin sets casabas off from other melons. As does its heft: weighing in at four to seven pounds. The pale, almost white flesh is extremely sweet.

CHARENTAIS MELONS (a.k.a. French Charentais) are French melons identifiable by their smooth, gray, or gray-blue rinds with sutures and orange flesh. Small, cut in half they serve two for breakfast.

CHRISTMAS MELONS (a.k.a. Piel de Sapo and Rochet) have a football shape, weighing upwards of 5 to 8 pounds. Cut through the yellow to green mottled rinds to reveal the palest orange or light green flesh depending upon the variety. Sweet flesh.

CRENSHAW MELONS (also seen as cranshaw) are a Casaba cross with a slightly more oblong shape, weighing at least 5 pounds. The slightly wrinkled green rind ripens to yellow. Inside, the flesh is pale peachy orange. It has a strong, spicy aroma.

GALIA MELONS are Israeli melons that have netted rinds similar to cantaloupes but paler in color. The sweet pale green to almost white flesh has the consistency of a honeydew with what has been described as a spicy-sweet or banana-like aroma. When ripe, they slip from the vine.

HONEYDEWS (a.k.a. honeydew melon, honey dew melon), second only to "cantaloupes" in popularity, have smooth, white to greenish-white rinds (some may be yellow) and open to reveal refreshingly sweet flesh that may be green, white, or orange. Its texture is similar to a cantaloupe, but the flavor more subtle and sweet.

MUSKMELONS are the familiar American cantaloupes with orange flesh and netted skin.

ORIENTAL MELONS are small (weighing a little more than a pound), elongated yellow melons with white sutures, and sweet, pale peach to white flesh. Because the seeds are so small and the rind is so thin, the entire melon can be eaten.

PERSIAN MELONS, bigger than cantaloupes, have a dark green rind with light brown netting. As it ripens, the rind turns to light green. Bright pink-orange flesh has a delicate flavor. Unlike most melons in the Reticulatus group, Persian melons do not slip from the vine when mature.

TRUE CANTALOUPE, named for the town of Cantalupo near Rome, Italy has rough-warty (not netted) skin. This is the European cantaloupe, rarely grown in America.

WINTER MELON is the catchall name for the long-season, long-keeping (a month or more at room temperature) melons, including Crenshaw, casaba, canary, and Christmas melons.

Soil Preparation: Melons prefer soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.8, which indicates adequate calcium availability—an important guard against blossom-end rot. Work 2 to 3 inches of finished compost into your melon beds before planting. Adding compost provides nutrients to your melons, helps distribute moisture evenly, and furnishes oxygen for root growth.

Timing of Planting: Soil temperature must reach at least 60°F before you plant—about a week after the last frost.

Spacing: If you direct-seed, sow seeds in clusters of five to six, planting each cluster in a hill—a mound of soil (1 foot high by 2 to 3 feet wide)—to increase drainage. If you're using seedlings, plant 2 or 3 per hill. For muskmelon and honeydew plants, space hills 1.5 to 2 feet apart, leaving 4 to 6 feet between rows. For watermelons, add another foot or two to these guidelines.

Watering: Melons need about an inch of water each week. Water your plants carefully by hand or use drip irrigation, because wet foliage promotes the spread of diseases such as angular leaf spot and downy mildew.

Fertilizing: Mix a solution of 1 tablespoon of fish emulsion in 1 gallon of water and apply it weekly when the plants are young. An application of a kelp-based foliar spray when the plants are in full flower will complete fertilization. Pest Watch Squash bugs, cucumber beetles (which also carry bacterial wilt), squash vine borers, and aphids (carriers of mosaic viruses). Disease Alert Powdery mildew, mosaic viruses, angular leaf spot and other fungal and bacterial diseases.

Harvesting: Pick cantaloupes when the stem separates easily from the melon. For netted melon varieties, the skin between the netting will turn from green to yellow at ripeness. Honeydews will soften slightly on the flower end of the fruit when ripe, along with a slight change in fruit color. Check the belly of watermelons for the best indicator of ripeness. The belly turns from greenish white to buttery yellow or cream at maturity. This change is most noticeable on watermelons with dark green skin.