It's Melon Time!

So the melon patch is ready at Cipponeri Family Farms! Melons are a delicious treat and contrary to popular belief, they are actually a vegetable! HOWEVER; due to their sweet characteristics, they are marketed as a fruit crop. Along with their relatives cucumbers and squash, they are in the Cucurbitaceae family.


Here is a photo of some of our melons we took to market last week; from left to right: Sharlyn, Orange flesh honeydew, and Canary.



Cipponeri Family Farms specializes in growing a few main types of specialty melons. Below is some information to find the best melon for your liking!

Sharlyn Melon:
This is a round melon that has a netted outside skin, similar to a cantaloupe, and a pale orange to cream colored flesh inside that provides a flavor similar to a combination of a honeydew and a cantaloupe. As the fruit ripens, the outer flesh turns from a greenish color surrounded by the tan netted lines to an orange tone with tan lines.. The Sharlyn melon cannot be kept for more than several days, as it is very perishable when it is ripe.

Orange Flesh Honeydew:
This is my personal favorite! When ripe, these melons will turn a creamy yellow color with a slight orange tinge. They will be firm with a small amount of softness at the stem. Sometimes, the seeds of an especially juicy melon will rattle if the melon is shaken. They are a a hybrid between cantaloupes and honeydews and appropriately, look like a regular green honeydew on the outside but resemble a cantaloupe on the inside.

Canary Melon:
The Canary melon is a large, bright-yellow melon with a pale green to white inner flesh. This melon has a distinctively sweet flavor that is slightly more tangy than a honeydew melon. The flesh looks like that of a pear but is softer and tastes similar to a cantaloupe. When ripe, the rind attains a golden tint and its flesh will have a pink tinge around its seed cavity. This melon is often marketed as the Juan Canary melon and got its name after the Canary Islands where they were first popularized.

Cranshaw melon:
This is an oval-shaped summer melon with a golden-yellow rind. The rind will turn a more yellow-gold tint as it ripens. It's a blend of the Persian and Casaba melon. They have a very interesting sweet and spicy taste. It has a very aromatic and sweet flesh.

Casaba melon:
This melon is round/oval with yellow-orange skin that is green at the ends. The flesh is a creamy-white color. When ripe, it's pale-yellow. It is sweet but has a more mellow flavor than the rest of the melons. Unlike most melons, it does not have an aroma when ripe.

Selection:
Most melons will have a sweet aroma when ripe. All of our melons at CFF are picked ripe and ready to eat, so one really cannot go wrong when selecting one from our stall. All melons (except Canary) can have a little bit of give (softness) at the stem ends when ripe for optimum sweetness.