While Paul is much better at detecting a ripe watermelon in the field, it is still something that occasionally confounds me. This happens to be our first year also growing Honeydew melons, something that none of us on the farm have eaten very much. Growing up with muskmelon, it was also the first choice above anything else, so I guess none of us were really exposed.
Muskmelons are strikingly different from watermelons and honeydew for one big reason. When a muskmelon is ripe it is said to “slip” from the vine. Meaning when you give the fruit a gentle tug, or even disturb the union of the vine and fruit at all, the fruit will detach. Watermelon and honeydew, as we’re learning, musk be cut from their plant when the first tendril or leaf has died. Well, this is what they say…
Another grower-friend of ours called us last night to report about his watermelon troubles. Mainly, that the cloudy and cold conditions have created a bit of a melon mystery. He has ripe watermelons which show no sign of being ripe, but when they’re smashed open, as is frequently done in the field, the fruit is truly ripe.
And we thought we were going crazy! What this means for you is that we’re even more unsure of whether the melons are ripe this year. We’ll do our best…
And a note about the honeydews- we’ve tasted ripe, unripe and overripe of this variety. It seems that the really overripe ones are sweeter but incredibly mealy and squishy- bordering on gelatin. The ripe ones (from what we’ve gathered) are sweet, but not sweeter than the muskmelon. They seem to not have the in-your-face flavor of muskmelons either. The unripe ones basically taste reminiscent of cucumbers. Thus, we’re not sure if it’s the weather or the variety- but don’t expect anything too fantastic from the honeydews. I thought they were good- but better when mixed with the watermelons in a salad. I think next year we’re going to try a different variety though. Let me know what you think of them though or if you have suggestions for a nice variety.
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