Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Cantaloupe


Cantaloupe (also cantaloup, muskmelon, rockmelon or spanspek) refers to two varieties of Cucumis melo, which is a species in the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes range in size from 0.5 kg to 5.0 kg. Originally, cantaloupe referred only to the non-netted orange-fleshed melons of Europe; however, in more recent usage it has come to mean any orange-fleshed melon (C. melo). (From Wikipedia)

At the Falls Church City Farmer's Market a couple of months ago, we picked up a few vines on sale for $1 each. We didn't know how well, if at all, they'd do in the back of the house, but we thought we'd give it a try. A few weeks ago, I noticed a little green ball forming where one of the vine's flowers used to be. It grew, and grew, and grew into a nice cantaloupe. Each day it's been getting more yellow and closer towards ripeness. Today when I went back to water the plants in the back yard, I saw the cantaloupe was detached from the vine and a beautiful ripe color that one never sees on cantaloupe in the grocery store. I brought it inside and began to devour it. YUMMY!