Melons

I've never tried to grow melons before this year. I have many a memory of eating cantalope as a child and never really liking it very much. I'd often enjoy honey dew, but the cantalope never did it for me. Now that I've eaten some perfectly ripe Charentais melons I know why. Those supermarket cantalopes are rarely ripe. Not all of the melons I grew this year were perfect, but enough were that it sure felt worth it to have them taking up space in the garden and hoophouse. I can't say enough good things about the Charentais. They were sweet, highly fragrant, and a hit with Rowan. For some reason Nyssa didn't have a taste for them. Maybe in 30 years when she's writing her own blog she'll have memories to share about the over-powering odor of the little orange melons her papa used to eat...

I also grew some actual cantalopes which came from purchased starts of unknown variety. They got the garden bed while the little French melons got to share the hoop house with the tomatoes. The extra heat and controlled watering of the hoop made for a better growing environment. It wasn't exactly an "apples to apples" comparison, or "melon to melon" as the case may be, but I much preferred the Charentais.

To be completely forthright I had little to do with any of the melon growing. I helped prep the garden bed they grew in, but that's about it. I didn't plant them, I didn't water them, I don't even think I ever weeded them at all. Getting to eat the fruits of someone else's labor is one of the joys of homesteading together. We have our various plans for divvying up labor and harvests, and everyone is happy with how it works out. I sure do love the melon harvest.

-Edmund

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