Wednesday, August 13

Flower of all the fruits

Melons are a world-wide staple

Some types of melons may be difficult to find, but seed catalogs offer many heirloom and lesser-known varieties for the adventurous gardener. Photo/ National Garden Bureau

They can be red or orange or white or green. They can be sweet or sour or bitter or bland. Some are as small as an apple. Others weigh hundreds of pounds. All are at least 90 percent water.

Humans have been eating melons for more than 4,000 years, though in many parts of the world it's the protein- and lipid-rich seeds that are coveted, not the sweet flesh.

If you plan to grow melons in your home garden next spring, pay close attention to their maturity dates; it may be necessary to start them early under cover to extend our Northern Illinois growing season. Most melons ripen in late summer or early- to mid-fall. The best and sweetest melons ripen when the weather is hot and dry. Because of our humid summers, melons should be planted in soil that is very well drained and with ample space for good air circulation around the entire vine.

For the best flavor

Occasionally a homegrown melon may not taste as sweet as you expect. The weather may be to blame. Too much cloud cover during ripening, too much heat, or too much rainfall — or a combination of all of these — can effect flavor. Most commonly the lack of flavor is due to an abundance of rain within the three weeks prior to harvest. Melons need sufficient moisture while growing and fruiting, but prior to harvest, the best, sweetest flavor will occur if the plant is grown on the "dry" side.

Melons need heat to ripen properly, but on very hot days they can overripen on the vine, giving them a waterlogged appearance. With the exception of watermelon, most will ripen successfully if picked partially "green" and allowed to finish ripening at room temperature. (This is preferred if there is rain in the forecast.) Most summer melons are fragrant when ripe. Sniff the skin; if you smell the flavor of the melon, it is ripe for the picking. Another indicator for ripeness is when the stem "slips" off the fruit easily. Cantaloupes are mature when the rind changes from green to tan-yellow between the veins.

Honeydew, crenshaw, and other winter melons are ready to harvest when they turn completely white or yellow, and the blossom end is slightly soft to touch. Since they do not slip, cut the melons from the vine. They will continue to ripen for several days at room temperature once they are picked. The sweetest and most flavorful melons are those picked ripe from the vine and eaten right away!

Types of melons

Of course, growing melons from seed gives you the best choice of types and cultivated varieties. The most popular melons in North America are the watermelon, cantaloupe, muskmelon and honeydew types. As gardeners travel, they eat new fruits and vegetables and wish to grow the tasty fruits eaten overseas. Look for these distinct types in mail-order catalogs or seed packets sold in retail stores:

Ananas melons (a.k.a. Middle Eastern melons) are oval shaped with medium-fine netting over pale green to orange rind. Very sweet, aromatic white flesh. One variety has orange-pink flesh. Average weight is three to four pounds.

Athena cantaloupes are Eastern U.S. cantaloupes. They are early maturing, oval-shaped, yellow-orange summer melons with firm, thick, yellow-orange flesh. The skin is slightly sutured with coarse netting. Average weight is five to six pounds. Left on the vine or harvested, the flesh remains firm.

Canary melons (a.k.a. Spanish, Juan Canary, Jaune des Canaries, and San Juan canary melons), have bright yellow rinds and an oblong shape. Inside, the pale, cream-colored flesh is juicy, and the flavor is very mild.

Casaba melons: The oval shape with a pointy end, coupled with wrinkled yellow skin sets casabas off from other melons; so does its heft — weighing in at four to seven pounds. The pale, almost white flesh is extremely sweet.

Charentais melons (a.k.a. French Charentais) are French melons identifiable by their smooth, gray, or gray-blue rinds with sutures and orange flesh. Small, cut in half they serve two for breakfast.

Christmas melons (a.k.a. Piel de Sapo and Rochet) have a football shape, weighing upwards of five to eight pounds. Cut through the yellow to green mottled rinds to reveal the palest orange or light green flesh depending upon the variety. Sweet.

Crenshaw melons (also seen as cranshaw) are a casaba cross with a slightly more oblong shape, weighing at least five pounds. The slightly wrinkled green rind ripens to yellow. Inside, the flesh is pale peachy orange. It has a strong, spicy aroma.

Galia melons are Israeli melons that have netted rinds similar to cantaloupes but paler in color. The sweet, pale-green-to-almost-white flesh has the consistency of a honeydew with what has been described as a spicy-sweet or banana-like aroma. When ripe, they slip from the vine.

Honeydews (a.k.a. honeydew melon, honey dew melon), have smooth, white to greenish-white rinds (some may be yellow) and open to reveal refreshingly sweet flesh that may be green, white, or orange. Its texture is similar to a cantaloupe, but the flavor is more subtle and sweet.

Oriental melons are small (weighing a little more than a pound), elongated, yellow melons with white sutures, and sweet, pale-peach to white flesh. Because the seeds are so small and the rind is so thin, the entire melon can be eaten.

Persian melons, which are bigger than cantaloupes, have a dark-green rind with light brown netting. As it ripens, the rind turns to light green. Bright pink-orange flesh has a delicate flavor. Unlike most melons, Persian melons do not slip from the vine when mature.

True cantaloupe, named for the town of Cantalupo near Rome, Italy, has rough-warty (not netted) skin. This is the European cantaloupe, rarely grown in America.

Watermelon: There are more than 1200 varieties of watermelon ranging in size from less than a pound to more than two hundred pounds with flesh that is red, orange, yellow, or white. Look for a pale or buttery yellow spot on the bottom, indicating ripeness. (Unlike other melons, they will not ripen after being harvested.)

Winter melon is the catchall name for the long-season, long-keeping (a month or more at room temperature) melons, including crenshaw, casaba, canary, and Christmas melons.

Recipe

Melons are very versatile — much more than a dessert or snack. Use them as an ingredient in salads, salsas, side dishes, entrees, and drinks. Even the ripe seeds, dried and toasted, make a healthy snack. This unusual and delicious watermelon salad is very refreshing on a hot summer day and an unexpected delight.

Watermelon Salad

1 medium watermelon (about 10 pounds), flesh cut into bite-size chunks
1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
2 or 3 homegrown cucumbers, skin on, diced
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, lovage, tarragon, chervil or fennel), optional
Salt (preferably kosher) and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
Sugar to taste, if necessary

Toss ingredients together gently and chill thoroughly. Garnish with crumbled Maytag blue cheese and toasted pine nuts, if desired.

After completing culinary arts training at Joliet Junior College and working as executive chef at the Heartland Health Spa in Gilman, Alex Panozzo returned to his roots on the family vegetable farm in Limestone. He is active with the Kankakee County Farmers Market, the local agritourism industry and the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener Program.