This will likely be the last melon of the season. It was a bit of a slow start for melon this year, but boy did we get our fill.
I’ve mentioned this to a couple members recently, but the pinpointing the exact is difficult. Sometimes the melons seem like they would be the same variety from the outside, but then they’re different colors with different flavors once you cut them open. But whether its actually a different variety, or just different ripeness, or variety within a particular variety; hard to tell.
We had this melon in shares a few weeks ago. At they time, they were aromatic but not necessarily super sweet. That is not the case now and the sweetness of these is intoxicating.
You’ve probably heard this called cantaloupe, but cantaloupe is actually a very specific variety of melon that is pretty rare in the U.S.. Nichols generally lists these as ‘varietal melons’ since they grow and distribute more varieties than they’re able to individually name. With the non-orange melons, I can do an okay job of figuring out what variety they are, but there are so many different varieties of orange muskmelon that I can’t confidently say which each is. I can say though its pretty tasty with notes of spices that resonate with me as cardamom and clove.
(pictured right) ‘Sunset-orange’ is not the variety name, rather just a description of the color of this melon (see orange muskmelon). If I had to take a guess, I’d say this is either Sugar Cube or Charentais. Either way, the flavor is intoxicating. It reminds me of bubblegum and clove. Without a doubt, a highlight of the season.
This yellow fleshed and netted skinned muskmelon is a fun one. Ananas is the word for ‘pineapple’ in both Italian and French. It’s super easy to figure why its called that as soon as you taste it.
(pictured left) You’ve probably heard this called cantaloupe, but cantaloupe is actually a very specific variety of melon that is pretty rare in the U.S.. Nichols generally lists these as ‘varietal melons’ since they grow and distribute more varieties than they’re able to individually name. With the non-orange melons, I can do an okay job of figuring out what variety they are, but there are so many different varieties of orange muskmelon that I can’t confidently say which this is. I can say though its pretty tasty with notes of spices that resonate with me as cardamom.
Galia is a green-fleshed variety of melon with a netted-tan skin, similar to cantaloupe. You’ve probably heard me rave about Nichols melons, so I want to make sure and mention that I don’t think this is the sweetest of melons that we’ll see this season. I don’t think it’s the variety, rather that it is early in the season, and we’ve recently seen a lot of rain (basically dilutes the sugar in the fruit). Don’t hear what I’m not saying though, they are still aromatic and delicious.
Similar to corn and eggplant, this will the last of the melon for the season. With that in mind, and because these are nice small ones, we left them whole for you to be able to delay the last few bites if you’d like. My preferred method for cutting melons is to first cut off each end, and then stand up the melon to trim the rind top to bottom, following the curve. You then left with a naked, whole melon that can be halved and then cubed. But the classic wedges are always a fun way to go too.
The melon has been fantastic this year. We hope you all are continuing to enjoy it as much as we have been.
We hope you all aren’t getting tired of melon. They’ve been pretty great so far this year.
Besides corn, there isn’t anything that represents summer quite as well. Crisp, refreshing, and sweet.
Besides corn, there isn’t anything that represents summer quite as well. Crisp, refreshing, and sweet.
Honeydew is often included in fruit salads, but don’t let those form your opinion on them. Honeydew is super sweet, and melts in your mouth. Its aptly named, as all I can think of as I eat it is honey.
Muskmelons are the subcategory of melon that includes cantaloupe (orange) and honeydew (green),. There are lots different varieties that often are just called one of those two more popular names. Growing up, I never really saw the appeal of them. My first season of a CSA changed that. These melons are intensely sweet with a flavor that reminds me of a milk caramel candy.
Muskmelons are the subcategory of melon that includes cantaloupe (orange) and honeydew (green),. There are lots different varieties that often are just called one of those two more popular names. Growing up, I never really saw the appeal of them. My first season of a CSA changed that. These melons are intensely sweet with a flavor that reminds me of a milk caramel candy.
This is a white-fleshed muskmelon (think honeydew or cantaloupe). Its crisp, refreshing and has a light melon flavor that I think blurs the line with cucumber.
It’s pretty wild how aromatic and complex these melons are. Even uncut, they perfume the entire room. An interesting problem that we run into is that without cutting open a melon, its very difficult to tell what variety/color of it is, and there is so much diversity that we’ve seen 4 different varieties in a single week. The beauty of the CSA Club is that we are able to make sure that everyone gets some of each of the varieties.
It’s pretty wild how aromatic and complex these melons are. Even uncut, they perfume the entire room. An interesting problem that we run into is that without cutting open a melon, its very difficult to tell what variety/color of it is, and there is so much diversity that we’ve seen 4 different varieties in a single week. The beauty of the CSA Club is that we are able to make sure that everyone gets some of each of the varieties.
