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Post by 12540dumont on Nov 3, 2011 15:56:03 GMT -5
Oops, that's a word I hate to hear...just as someone drops a cell tray...
Steev! When I was clearing out the melon beds, I found a few late stragglers. Lateness is not a trait I usually select for, but look at the weather we have had. Anyway, one of the melons I sampled was above average in sweetness. Darn I wish I'd have stopped chewing long enough to do a brix test. It wasn't a normal August/Sept Melon with honey dripping out of it, but it was not (pepino/cucumber) either. Leo said it was refreshing and sweet without being cloying. There might be something in a late season melon.
Anyway, I'm sending along some seeds to you. Put it somewhere that won't annoy you that it hasn't done anything yet. It's orange on the inside. This came from the Long Island Italian Melon Patch. I have no idea what it is. Looks like a Green Nutmeg with an Orange Center.
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Post by steev on Nov 3, 2011 23:44:00 GMT -5
Thanks so much!
"Refreshing and sweet without being cloying"; you could name it steev!
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Post by DarJones on Nov 3, 2011 23:44:32 GMT -5
Steev, was your melon a large oval with very wrinkled green skin and white flesh? If so, you had Hami Jiageda. They have to be stored in a cellar for 3 or 4 months to develop sweetness. If you eat it fresh from the garden, it tastes like a bitter cucumber. DarJones
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Post by raymondo on Nov 4, 2011 5:46:51 GMT -5
I started a melon trial, of sorts yesterday by sowing a swag of green-fleshed melons: Ananas d'Amérique à Chair Verte, Anne Arundel, Eden's Gem, Fordhook Gem, Green Machine, Green Nutmeg, Jenny Lind, Melon de Montréal, PI307588 (thanks Michel) and an unknown green-fleshed melon. I intend sowing a similar orange-fleshed group, though I haven't made my selection yet. I'll be selecting for good tasting earlies in both green and orange.
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Post by ottawagardener on Nov 4, 2011 8:43:23 GMT -5
Fusionpower: You just added to my seed want list. Winter storage melons. I've been looking for those.
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Post by steev on Nov 4, 2011 10:44:07 GMT -5
fusionpower, I think you've got it right about the dark green one; thanks for a name; I will resist the urge to open it prematurely, having had my fill of bitter cukes this year.
Your photo is very like the smaller melon, although rounder and larger, much the same colors. Is it a cuke? Sure looks like one to me, from the seeds in their little sacs.
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Post by steev on Dec 1, 2011 20:47:20 GMT -5
Regrettably, the "Hami Jiagada" has a spot of rot that is slowly growing, so I'm going to open it this week-end, if only tosave the seeds. Sure hope it's not too early for sweetness.
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Post by olddog on Dec 2, 2011 11:01:08 GMT -5
An amazing number of varieties, should be wonderful when they all start to grow and produce fruit!
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Post by steev on Dec 2, 2011 11:27:34 GMT -5
Yes; there will be so much promise when they start to grow; whether they produce fruit will be somewhat dependant on the rodents, cursed be their many tribes.
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Post by canadamike on Dec 2, 2011 17:11:12 GMT -5
Fusionpower: You just added to my seed want list. Winter storage melons. I've been looking for those. Ha ha!! At last, a sentence that is music to my ears...winter storage melon, in MOO could become, because of their cash value, an important source of revenue for organic market gardeners. I would like to point out a canary type melon that used to be sold by Bountiful Harvest...MARYGOLD, bred I think by the U of New Hampshire...anyway, if it is not the case, a university in that area... LIke all canaris it keps well. I grew it a few times. Tim Peters even sent me some seeds of it in 2008...I had grown it before. I tested it, keeping it in the fridge until november, than ate half of it, put it back and came a month later to eat the rest, with only a thin slice to get rid of in the former cut area. That is a winner...but a melon developping its taste over time...that is something too...
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Post by jonnyyuma on Dec 2, 2011 18:06:45 GMT -5
University of Maryland. Not a bad melon.
Thanks Jonny
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Post by 12540dumont on Dec 3, 2011 13:57:49 GMT -5
Well, if anyone has seeds of these "storage" melons I would love to swap. I have been hunting the elusive "Santa Claus" for some time (Christmas Melon). We had these once before and left them at room temperature until January and then woofed them down.
Last week I ate our last Juan Canary. Although not as sweet as they were in Sept. Oh it was delicious and refreshing.
Just PM me with what you are looking for.
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Post by raymondo on Dec 3, 2011 15:41:18 GMT -5
Some say that the melon Piel de Sapo, available through Baker Creek, is the same as Santa Claus, though Amy Goldman is not one of them. Never having grown either I can't attest to this but it may be worth trying out as a storage melon.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Dec 3, 2011 23:02:58 GMT -5
Some say that the melon Piel de Sapo, available through Baker Creek, is the same as Santa Claus, though Amy Goldman is not one of them. Never having grown either I can't attest to this but it may be worth trying out as a storage melon. I think some seed companies it is the same, and others it's not, i'm fairly sure there are a lot of inconsistencies. If i had to guess I'd say that Piel de Sapo is not the same as Santa Claus, and that something like Yellow Canary is closer. I'd guess that Piel de Sapo, Yellow Canary, Snow Leopard F1, and that turkish melon are all the same kind of storage melon, but different varieties.
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Post by steev on Dec 5, 2011 0:35:30 GMT -5
I cut into the big, green melon yesterday, and it was good, not bitter. It really looked like a casaba, except it was dark green, not yellow ( except the ground-spot was cream ). The flesh was yellow and had a pleasant "grainy" texture, not terribly sweet, but tasty, reminiscent of honeydew. The seeds are clearly well-matured and plentiful. I have no idea whether they're crossed or not. Whoever wants to take a chance should PM me. I'm certainly adding this to my melon trial for next year.
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