Citron - Citrullus lanatus

[blueadzuki]

to deviate slightly, anyone have any experiance with either the Zucca/sheepnose melon or Pastella? I picked up a packet of each of there from sand hill farm last order, and from what the descriptions say, they sound like sort of "honorary citron melons" that is they, sound like they are used like preserving melons, but are not tecnically preserving melons since they are not Citrullus (based on seed apperance alone, I'd guess that zucca is some sort of Lagenaria and Pastella is listed as a Cucurbita ficifolia squash.

[canadamike]

The Zucca Melon

by Hermann Gummel



(as published in the Okanagan Historical Society's 45th Report, 1981, pp. 137-138)

A Zucca Hug, Osoyoos 1943, BC Archives

In 1939, Walter Graf and Hermann Gummel started in the business of growing Zucca melons, with 25 plants each. Not knowing the proper maturity for harvesting them, they were left on the vines until the end of the summer, when they were taken to Penticton to be prepared under the supervision of Ted Atkinson, head of the processing department at the Summerland Experimental Station.



When the Zucca melon is mature, the skin becomes so hard that it has to be cut with a saw. And that is what happened with most of the melons in 1939. It was found that a melon fully developed, but with a skin still soft enough to be peeled with a draw-knife, brought the highest percentage of useable meat.



The Zucca melon is probably the largest melon grown. It can reach a size of 100 pounds and over. The largest weighed in at 127 ½ pounds, but the average weight is around 65 to 70 pounds. The flesh is white and tasteless, which makes it ideal for processing. After it has been cured in a sulphur dioxide solution and cut into one-quarter inch dices, it can be given any desired colour and taste. And in the end it turns up in cakes and cookies as melon cubes.



The Zucca melon only blooms at night. Large white blossoms raise their stem above the leaves and open their petals when the sun goes down. If it is a cool night, the blossoms will stay open until mid-morning. That gives the grower time to pollenize the female blossom by hand, as the bees will not go near them. We have tried to put a drop of sugar syrup in blossoms near the beehives, but even that did not attract them.



After the wartime restrictions on imports came off, the demand for melons decreased, while growers’ expenses started to rise and the price for the melons remained at the same level. Gradually the acreage planted decreased from year to year and by the middle of the 1950s, no more were grown.

[blueadzuki]

thatks for the reply. I think I'm gonna file this away for the moment, my garden is tiny and something THAT big it pretty much going to smother the whole thing.

[sandbar]

Michel, I thought the posting of the picture was a spoof ... I guess that's what these things really look like! Wow!

How long do the vines get?

[canadamike]

No friggin clue buddy. But I am so fond of these moments when I look like an agricultural genious...

I think I'll keep to myself how cool Google really is

[ottawagardener]

You, and your buddy google, are quite the agricultural team Michel

Prairie Garden Seeds sells Zucca I believe, or at least they list it. Come on someone, grow it, grow it!

[loki]

This is most definitely an old world gourd - Lagenaria siceraria. It's night blooming habit, white flowers, etc. are typical. And they are not pollinated by bees - but moths. Sometimes when reading some of these accounts I am amazed at the ignorance of people - or even lack of common sense. So they have a plant that blooms at night - and they would think bees would pollinate it? I guess they knew nothing of bees (who are dormant at night) or Botany (no melon has white blooms or blooms at night - or has seeds like or smells like an old world gourd!). Would not really think they could have ever been a gardener! And I am not thinking that they needed a college education to figure this out, just simple observation.

[grunt]

My grandparents used to grow them in Oliver (just north of Osoyoos). Standing next to one as a kid of 7 or 8, it would be taller and much heavier than me.

[pierre]

Citrons are allmost wild watermelons that are grown without any watering, excepted an initial one.

As I tasted it when a child at a spanish friend's citron jam is among the very best I ever ate. Absolutely delicious with a candied fruit taste. Store bought citron jam was never as good.

Secrets are macerating for one night sugar (some caramelise it to honey color) and flesh plus a lemon a kilo and eventually some vanilla then slowly bring to boiling stiring, let cool completely and restart slow cook stiring to wanted thickness. Flesh bits should be translucent then and taste as if candied. Wonderfull, unique, as good as the best jams.