This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy was my first dog and he thought the garden was his, even though I did all the work. Now Suzie and Charley follow in his footsteps. We're located near Boston (USDA zone 6A). I have a community plot, a backyard vegetable garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, chickens, and bees. I use sustainable organic methods and do my best to grow all of my family's vegetables myself.
Monday, June 21, 2010
melon plants
So far, so good on my melon plants. Last year they looked like this at the end of the season. They are snug and warm in my cold frame this year. Still growing slowly, but I think now that the weather has warmed up, they will take off.
What kind of melon are these? My brother grew canteloupe melon pretty well last year. However, they went away for the weekend, and when they came back, a critter ate a big hole in all the fruit, so they never even tasted it. Sigh.
Well - as the label says, this melon plant is Charentais!
Charentais is supposed to be an exceptional melon of the cantalope type. But not easy to grow (I failed miserably last year) and not easy to pick at perfect ripeness. In hopes I can actually get a melon on my vines, I've copied a list here of how to judge perfect ripeness.
* The best indicator is smell. The melon's fragrance should make your mouth water. It's overripe if it has a strong musky smell.
* Look for a slight color change from gray-blue to cream, but don't wait for the rind to turn orangish; by then the melon will be overripe.
* The melon may slip (detach) from the vine and still taste good, but often it's overripe at this point. Normally, you want to pick a melon before it slips.
Johnny's Selected Seeds recommends examining the smallish, long-stemmed leaf attached to the vine at the same point as the fruit. When fruit is ripe, the leaf is pale.
4 comments:
What kind of melon are these? My brother grew canteloupe melon pretty well last year. However, they went away for the weekend, and when they came back, a critter ate a big hole in all the fruit, so they never even tasted it. Sigh.
I also was going to ask what kind they are.
I just found your blog and it looks great! Those tomatoes are really exciting, too!
Well - as the label says, this melon plant is Charentais!
Charentais is supposed to be an exceptional melon of the cantalope type. But not easy to grow (I failed miserably last year) and not easy to pick at perfect ripeness. In hopes I can actually get a melon on my vines, I've copied a list here of how to judge perfect ripeness.
* The best indicator is smell. The melon's fragrance should make your mouth water. It's overripe if it has a strong musky smell.
* Look for a slight color change from gray-blue to cream, but don't wait for the rind to turn orangish; by then the melon will be overripe.
* The melon may slip (detach) from the vine and still taste good, but often it's overripe at this point. Normally, you want to pick a melon before it slips.
Johnny's Selected Seeds recommends examining the smallish, long-stemmed leaf attached to the vine at the same point as the fruit. When fruit is ripe, the leaf is pale.
Have you had good luck with melons? I grew some a few years back and they were beautiful but absolutely tasteless. I've been gun-shy ever since.
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