Notes on Melons

From a page from completely useless but interesting facts I learned that square watermelon is all the rage in Japan (http://melonisland.net/useless/square.html). It seems that some Japanese farmers took it upon themselves to grow melons that would fit in your refrigerator better by growing them inside a square glass box. Now that’s important info.

Melons, squashes, and cucumbers are all related--gourd family of plants; they all grow on vines and are the fruit part of the plant. With the exception of watermelon, all melons resemble winter squashes in structure - they have a thick flesh with a central seed-filled cavity. Cantaloupe and Watermelon are the most well-known melons here in the U.S. but a trip to the farmers' market will reveal a wide variety. Melons will soften if left un-refrigerated, but not sweeten—important to note. That is melons will not grow sweeter off the vine.

“Melons are not only sweet and refreshing, they are also highly nutritious. These fruits are good sources of potassium and vitamin C, and the ones with orange flesh are exceptional sources of beta-carotene. Cantaloupe is the most nutritious of the melons. It has at least three times more vitamin C (70% of the RDA for men and women), 10 times more beta-carotene and a third more of the potassium than most other melons. Two-thirds cup of cubed cantaloupe provides 3224 IU of vitamin A, which accounts for three-quarters of the RDA for women and over two-thirds of the RDA for men. And all of this with less than a gram of fat.” (http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/rangarajan/veggie/freshnow/melons..html)

Some general notes on the most common of melons include the following:

Watermelon

• Seeds are edible (crack and eat the inside)
• There are over 200 varieties, almost all of them edible including the white part of the rind.
• Four categories that stand out are Picnic—the kind you most often buy with striped green skin, and normally long like a squash: Seedless—smaller, round: Icebox—smaller, solid green skin: Yellow Flesh—smaller than picnic but same in outside appearance.
• Ripe? If so, watermelons have a waxy look and a yellow patch on the belly. The “thumping” is a wives tail, so I’ve heard (although thousands will be thumped this summer so …)

Cantaloupe and Honeydew

• How do you pick a ripe melon? Muskmelons (Eastern melon) or cantaloupes (Western melon) should be tan or gold under their netting; honeydews should be velvety and creamy yellow; for most melons, the blossom end should be fragrant and give slightly to pressure.
• Seeds can be toasted and eaten.