I mentioned in an earlier blog that another plant was growing intertwined with the cucumbers on our fence. The foliage and blossoms were almost identical to our cucumbers and the only way it was distinguishable was because it started to grow green golf ball shaped fruits.
We compost our fruit and vegetable scraps and we figured it must have self-seeded from the compost we used to amend the soil. So we decided to wait and see.
Those small golf balls became full sized cantaloupes! I’ve never grown cataloupes before, and didn’t know when to pick them. We also wondered if the stems would be able to support the weight of the hanging melons, but we couldn’t find an easy way to support the melons without chancing breaking the vines. So we left them hang, and I started to research so I would know when to pick them.
Cantaloupes with netted rinds have a “ground color” below the netting. This color underneath the netting should turn a golden color when it is ripe. Melons also ripen at the blossom end first, (opposite of the stem), so the blossom end should give a little when squeezed. And of course, a ripe melon, even before it’s cut, smells sweet.
When picking a ripe melon out of a home garden, the stem naturally separates from the melon, which is called “slipping”. A gentle tug or turn of the melon is all that is needed to separate the stem from the melon when it is ripe. (Since melons sold at grocery stores must be shipped, they are harvested at the “half slip stage”.) Melons that are harvested at “full slip” will be sweeter because unlike other types of fruit, once they are picked, cantaloupes do not become sweeter as they ripen. (But they can improve in color, texture and juiciness after picking).
Once our largest cantaloupe started taking on golden tones, I held it in my hands and as I barley turned it over to look at the opposite side, it detached from the stem. This meant it was ripe. Hours later we were enjoying the wonderful sweet flavor of a cantaloupe – grown on a fence.
I don’t know the variety, but that cantaloupe is the best tasting “compost” I’ve ever eaten! Best of all, there are other cantaloupes on the same vine, still hanging on the fence and slowly starting to ripen. I love the tastes of summer.
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