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MUSKMELON GREEN FLESHED TYPES

MUSKMELON

(54 varieties to choose from) ( updated for 2024)

 

Plant after danger of frost has passed or start indoors 2 weeks prior and set out under cover.  We use row cover to prevent insect damage when young.  Leave row cover on until flowering begins.  We plant 2 to 4 plants in a hill every 6 feet.  Packets will contain 15 to 30 seeds.

This group is not to be confused with Honeydews, but are softer muskmelon types that ripen to green or whitish green flesh colors.  Once the most popular kinds in the 1800’s, they are making a comeback.

MUSKMELON

(51 varieties to choose from)

 

Plant after danger of frost has passed or start indoors 2 weeks prior and set out under cover.  We use row cover to prevent insect damage when young.  Leave row cover on until flowering begins.  We plant 2 to 4 plants in a hill every 6 feet.  Packets will contain 15 to 30 seeds.

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Anne Arundel

Anne Arundel- 83 days- Bright green flesh, slightly orange near the center.  Very sweet and tasty.  Pre-1800 Maryland heirloom.  Pkt. $2.50 Certified Organic Seed

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Edens Gem

Edens Gem-  80 days- Small, baseball sized, heavy producer of 1 pound netted fruits with green flesh.  Planted very late in our crazy 2018 it went wild and yielded right through the 25 inch rainy period. Pkt. $2.00   Certified Organic Seed 

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Evans Sweet

Evans Sweet- 85 days- We had heard raves about this one from many and finally got it planted tin 2016 on June 26, then starting September 20 until frost in November we had a nice supply of tasty melons. They are somewhat netted  averaging 3 pounds with pale green flesh that is a bit juicy. They are most certainly not firm fleshed. Linda made an excellent  jam  out of some of them.  Pkt. $2.50 Certified Organic Seed

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Green Nutmeg 

Green Nutmeg - 75 days - Dates from the mid-1800’s.  Melons average 2 to 3 lbs and always seem to grow and taste better in cooler conditions.  Tasted great when I lived in northern Idaho, just average tasting here in the Midwest.  Pkt. $1.75  Certified Organic Seed

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Ha-Ogen

Ha-Ogen- 85 days - Beautiful and super tasty.  Fruits are yellowish with green ribbing and minimal netting, 2 to 3 pounds.  Flesh tastes almost spicy.  Pkt. $2.50 Certified Organic Seed

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Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind- 80 days- a unique shaped melon with bright green flesh. Melon   characteristic nipple on the blossom end. Pkt. $2.50 Certified Organic Seed

MUSKMELON- ORANGE FLESHED

This group is all of the orange fleshed muskmelon types.  Anything from heavily netted to light netting, but the common grouping is that the flesh is varying stages of orange.

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Charentais

Charentais-  80 days- True cantaloupe, smooth, light green, thin rind, extremely fragrant, grapefruit sized fruits, 1 to 2 pounds.  When ripened during warm, dry weather the fruits are so strong flavored you can smell them several hundred feet away in the garden as they get ripe.  Pkt. $2.25

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Cochiti Pueblo

Cochiti Pueblo- 90 days- Not very netted, oblong to football, irregularly shaped melons that can get very large if grown under proper conditions.  I picked a 22 lb. fruit in 1988 from this variety.  Flesh quality is average and flesh is a medium orange color.  Pkt. $3.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Condon

Condon- 80 days- one of the many in Tom Knoche’s freezer collection.  I can not find out a documented history but did see it was used to develop Healy’s Pride. It is a very productive type that tends to ripen all at once. Fruits are  fairly netted and ribbed. Flesh is firm and orange and average 3 pounds. Pkt. $2.25  Certified Organic Seed

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Crane 

Crane - 80 days- Crenshaw type, speckled skin, minimal netting, very fragrant, deliciously mild, sweet flavor, 6 to 7 pounds.  Pkt. $2.50  Certified Organic Seed

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Dr. Jaeger’s Mildew Resistant

Dr. Jaeger’s Mildew Resistant- 90 days-  another one form Tom Knoches’s freezer collection.  Very old seed from the mid 1980’s  but germination was good.  Very slow growing for me this year and the fruits are not very large. They fit comfortably in my hand. Heavy netted rind and thick orange flesh. In our cooler nights in late season all other muskmelons got powdery mildew but this one kept mildew free until frost at the end of October.  If you have a mildew problem it would be worth a trial.  Pkt. $3.00 Certified Organic Seed   UNAVAILABLE IN 2024

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Dr. Wyche's

Dr. Wyche's- 75 days- thick netting  2-4 pound  orange fleshed. Dr. Wyche was one of the earliest Seed Saver Exchange members and sent me numerous varieties.  I am working to get some of them out there to survive the ages.  Pkt. $2.50  Certified Organic Seed

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Far North

Far North- 60 days - Small, slightly netted fruit that will ripen well in cool conditions. We had a small seed return this year but were blessed by a customer  in Missouri who we sent a few seeds and grew out a nice crop. I remember this old Gurney variety being  one I  had success with when I was child in Salmon, Idaho. PKT. $2.50

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Giant Perfection

Giant Perfection- 75 days -  A large and very productive loosely netted type with juicy orange flesh. When I was young and living in  a non melon growing area I kept trying  this one as it was supposed to get so big. Never got anything and then couldn't get seed once I got to Iowa. I found this seed in Tom Knoche's frozen seed storage( seed was over 30 years old) and some grew.  Fruit average 5-6 pounds easily. Pkt. $1.50  Certified Organic Seed

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Golden Gopher

Golden Gopher- 85 days- Not heavily netted, orange flesh with good resistance to fusarium, developed by the University of Minnesota in the 1930’s.  Fruits tend to pop open when ripe. One of the earliest Seed Savers finds by me here inIowa. My friends David and Gail Lange of Goodell who lured me to Iowa for its fantastic soil and climate  had this one. It appears David's mother had been growing it on the farm since  the 1950's.  Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Granite State

Granite State- 83 days- 3 to 4 pound lightly netted fruits with deep orange flesh. Flavor is excellent when they ripen when it is dry. One of Dr. Meader's creations for the northeast.  Pkt. $1.50

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Greely Wonder

Greely Wonder - 80 days - Large, semi-netted fruit, super sweet.  Fruits average 5 to 7 lbs. A large and good tasting melon that orginated in Colorado.  Pkt. $2.25  Certified Organic Seed

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Hollybrook Luscious

Hollybrook Luscious - 90 days - First introduced in 1905.  Dark green, oblong melons that ripen yellow/green.  Average 8 to 10 pound UNAVAILABLE FOR 2024

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Honey Rock

Honey Rock - 85 days - Small, 2 to 3 pounds, heavy netted.  Flavor is superb in most all conditions.  Pkt. $1.50 Certified Organic Seed

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Kangold 

Kangold - 75 days - Heavy, netted, grapefruit sized melon, orange, thick flesh.  2014 proved why it was our friend, Gail’s, choice to save for the future.  Planted July 3, we were amazed with an abundance of ripe fruit in September that held well and had a strong, superb flavor.  Pkt. $2.75  Certified Organic Seed

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Kansas

Kansas - 90 days - An heirloom from Kansas.   Vigorous vines, great yields of 4 pound, ridged, netted fruit.  Pkt. $1.50 Unavailable for 2024

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Minnesota Midget

Minnesota Midget- 70 days - Small, shallow ribbed fruits that ripen 1 to 2 pounds and are very tasty. This was the first ripe melon I ever grew back in Salmon Idaho , small but sweet and tasty   and for those with cooler conditions and shorter seasons give it a try.  Pkt. $1.50

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Oka

Oka - 80 days - Large, 4 to 6 pounds, netted melon, flattened in shape, aromatic, sweet flesh.  Developed in 1912 in Quebec.  Originally a cross between Banana and Montreal Market.  Our friend, Tom Bruning, in western Iowa grew our seed crop for us  a few years ago and pronounced this melon the “best ever” even better than his favorite Spear.  He could not believe how it kept producing and producing mouth watering, juicy, full flavored fruits.  We planted our crop in 2021 on July 5 and had a continuous crop of melons from mid September until frost  a month later. Pkt. $1.75 Certified Organic Seed

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Olding

Olding- 58 days-  a super early type sent to us from central Saskatchewan. Very productive and early. I planted them July 19  in 2019 and they were beginning  to ripen September 15. Fruits are  small and football shaped with an attractive orangish striping on a pale green fruit. Very fragrant but the flesh tends to be rather bland.  Planted mid July again in 2021, they grew in an isolation plot with near zero moisture and ripened in mid September with variable colored but tasty fruit. A real potential variety for short season areas,   Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Old Time Tennessee

Old Time Tennessee  - 90 days - Late and very large.  This is a huge melon that is deeply creased, oblong, football shape, does not store long.  Planted in 2014 on July 3, it ripened in late September with many 15 plus lb. fruit.  Pkt. $2.25  Certified Organic Seed

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Old West Virginia Heirloom

Old West Virginia Heirloom- 85 days - Lightly netted, very productive, superb flavor, medium size, 3 to 5 pound fruits.  Flesh is a bright orange.   Pkt. $2.50 Limit 1 Certified Organic Seed

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Oregon Delicious

Oregon Delicious - 83 days - Good yields, flavorful, semi-football shaped. Very similar to Spear with the firm and strong tasting flesh   Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed 

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Petit Gris De Rennes 

Petit Gris De Rennes - 80 days - Beautiful greenish-gold, net free skin when ripe.  Flesh is orange and very sweet.  The French do a wonderful job in selecting for top tasting melons. Pkt. $2.00

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Pike

Pike - 80 days - An heirloom variety developed in the 1930's in Oregon specifically for clay soil. Pkt. $2.50

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Pollock Rocky Ford

Pollock Rocky Ford- 85 days- A superb melon, orange flesh, 1 to 2 pounds, not overly large but delightfully sweet.  This one always yields well and holds up well but is for some reason never requested much. Losing hope in 2021 I decided on July 18 to just plant them  and hope for rain. Never really got more than a few showers but they burst forth  and grew and wilted pretty bad many times but produced mountains of  small thickly netted fruits with solid super sweet flesh. Not large but tasty. Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Pride of Wisconsin

Pride of Wisconsin - 85 days - Faint ribs, coarse net, thick orange flesh, hard shell, 3 to 5 pounds, does well on heavy soils, consistently performs well despite the weather.  Truly adapted to this part of the Midwest. Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Red Queen

Red Queen- 85 days-  a variety brought from China by Glecklers Seed Co. many years ago. It was saved  from extinction by Kory Carmen of Arizona.  Some slight variability in fruit type but fruit is very sweet and deep orange in color.  Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Schoon’s Hardshell

Schoon’s Hardshell - 85 days - Thicker rind, holds well, ships well, 5 to 8 pounds, highly flavored orange flesh.  A true genetic treasure with its firmness yet strong flavor. Pkt. $1.75 Certified Organic Seed

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Spear

Spear- 78 days- Large, 4 to 6 pounds, football shaped melons, superb tasting orange flesh. A very popular variety in the Pacific Northwest.  The flesh is soft but has strong f lavor.These were hard to beat when I lived in the  Lewis -Clark Valley of Idaho. Pkt. $1.50 Certified Organic Seed 

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Sugar Salmon

Sugar Salmon- 75 days- Very sweet, netted,  3 to 5 pounds.   Tolerates most diseases quite well. Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Susan Healy

Susan Healy - 80 days - A selection made by the Healy family of Healy’s Pride.  Healy’s Pride is very late.  Susan Healy is just as flavorful but earlier, 3 to 5 pounds, sweet and tasty.  Pkt. $2.00

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Turbeville 

Turbeville - 80 days - Slightly netted, semi-football shaped, 2 to 4 pounds.  Historic variety from the Maryland area. Fruits are pale orange in flesh color.  Pkt. $1.50

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Turkey

Turkey-  90 days- A very old, Southern variety that is an elongated blimp shape.  Fruits average 8 to 12 pounds, though can get much larger.  Large ribs and  somewhat  blimp shaped. Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Wapsi Wonder

Wapsi Wonder- 75 days - When I first moved to Iowa I struggled to raise melons as the Cucumber Beetles seemed to spread disease.  I’d have loads of young fruit only to see it all perish.  My collection of over 100 varieties was in trouble.  While I was learning how to deal with these new conditions, I got in the habit of saving seed from the tastiest fruits that survived.  The past few years I’ve stabilized the selection to this melon.  It handles our sand well, can be planted as late as July 10 and still make tasty melons in September.  Fruits are smallish - 2 lbs. at best, somewhat netted and orange flesh.  I can not certify it to be wilt tolerant, but it sure handles it well here.  Introduced by Sand Hill Preservation Center in 2011.   Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed OSSI pledged variety

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Zatta

Zatta- 85 days- Thick rind old fashioned cantaloupe type. Thick hard flesh of strong flavor. Flesh is a deep orange. Pkt. $2.50 Certified Organic Seed

HONEYDEW, CASABA, CANARY, AND OTHER MELONS

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This group contains the specialty melons that for some are a challenge to grow as most of these like a long, dry season with lots of hot weather to obtain the best tasting fruit.  When the conditions are right, these melons will make you a melon addict for sure.

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Amarillo Oro

Amarillo Oro- 100 days- Winter type canary melon, golden, oblong fruit, sweet, creamy white flesh, 4 to 6.5 pounds.  Dates to pre-1870.  These are always a taste treat at the near end of the season, while not strong melon flavored they are a crisp and tasty treat to satisfy my melon addiction just prior to the end of the growing season. Pkt. $2.00

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Ananas

Ananas- 85 days- Oblong, 5 pound fruits, greenish rind maturing yellow-orange, no ribbing, faint net.  Flesh is creamy yellow, soft, juicy and sweet.  Pre-1900 variety.  Pkt. $2.00

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Ashkahabad 

Ashkahabad - 80 days - Golden rind, green fleshed honeydew, 4 to 6 pounds.  Holds well after picking.   In 2017 they were superb tasting.  Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Branco do Ribatejo

Branco do Ribatejo- 90 days - a nice honeydew type that loves hot dry weather Does best when ripened in dry, hot weather.  Pkt. $2.00 

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Bursa Turque

Bursa Turque- 98 days- Santa Claus type melon, deep yellow with dark, pine green spots, very wrinkled, pale green, mild flavored flesh, 8 to 10 pounds.  Does best when ripened in dry, hot weather.  Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Cochiti Indian Mix

Cochiti Indian Mix - 80 days - A true mix of flesh colors and skin types.  Fruits average 4 to 8 pounds and are best-flavored in dry weather.  Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed 

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Crenshaw

Crenshaw - 90 days - Long one of my favorite melons. it grew  so well in the Lewis- Clark Valley of Idaho. It likes the dry time after fruit is set and then the fruit is soft, flavorful and so tasty.  Pkt. $2.00  

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Honeymist

Honeymist- 80 days-  an early green-fleshed honeydew that was one of Tom Knoche’s favorites. Once thought lost Tom found seed increased it then with Tom’s passing we thought it lost again. This past winter  our friend Tom Bruning  from western Iowa was over and we found some seed in the  freezer and he was successful raising a nice crop for us. This was in the old Farmers Seed  and Nursery catalogs in the 1970’s.  Pkt. $2.50 

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Kazakh 

Kazakh - 75 days - Sometime in the late 1960’s I first spotted this variety in Gurney’s catalog.  I was living in the melon-free area of Idaho where it was too cold, but I tried anyhow and came close to a ripe fruit more than once.  While living near Lewiston, Idaho during college I got some nice fruit.  I came to Iowa and struggled as it was not liking the insects and diseases.  My seed supply kept dwindling until nearly lost.  I sent some to my friend, Tom Knoche, in Ohio.  He had a good crop and returned some seed back.  Again, I tried pampering it and giving it great soil and fertilizer and still would lose the plants.  With inheriting Tom’s collection, I found more seed and decided to give it one more try and planted it on our most rugged isolation garden - one that is no soil (by most standards) but 100% sand.  There was no water or way to do so and low fertility.  It got ignored.  We had subnormal rainfall, but we were blessed with the best tasting honeydew type fruit ever.  I was afraid I was being a bit biased since I had struggled for close to 30 years that I took some to work and my co-workers raved about the crisp, refreshing, taste and texture.  I guess it was getting too good of care and is one of those that thrives in the less than ideal.  Pkt. $2.50  Certified Organic Seed   

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Orange Blush

Orange Blush - 85 days - Honeydew type.  Gets a faint orange tint to the white skin when it is ripe, outstanding  flavor, 3 to 5 pounds.  Pkt. $3.00 Certified Organic Seed

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Piel de Sapo

Piel de Sapo- 100 days-  Originally from Spain.  Oval, mottled green with yellow skinned fruit, average 5 to 7 pounds, flesh is sweet, pale green to white with a very hard rind.  It’s always fun to uncover one of these hidden treasures in the weeds way after the melon season has passed.  When properly cared for and brought in prior to frost, they will keep in excellent condition in the basement for several months.  Pkt. $2.25

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Romanian Green

Romanian Green- 85 days-  tasty rare melon  Pkt. $2.00

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Stutz Supreme

Stutz Supreme- 75 days- a very early  crenshaw type that is exceptionally flavored when it ripens quickly in hot weather,, mild pinkish- orange delicious  flesh melts in your mouth. Pkt. $2.50  

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Sungold Casaba

Sungold Casaba- 100 days- A nice true Casaba type of pale white greenish flesh with a thin ribby yellow skin. Mild flavored.  Pkt. $2.00

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Tendral Verde Tardif

Tendral Verde Tardif- 90 days- Dark green, wrinkled rind, pale creamy flesh that is very sweet, good keeping quality, 3 to 5 pounds. The photo was taken over a month after a killing frost and the melon was still in great shape in the field. I always do one last search through the melon patch each Fall as the days and nights get colder and colder to have one last melon treat to get me through the long melonless winter. It is  always a great treat to find one in among some weeds where slight protection from frost has left it in great shape. Pkt. $2.00

ORIENTAL MELONS

This group is typically eaten skin and all and are noted for their sweetness and crisp flesh.  Seeds are very small. These are a  well kept garden secret on a refreshing treat while working in the garden on a hot summer day.

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Golden Sweet

Golden Sweet- 80 days- Crisp white flesh; golden yellow skin.  Everyone who has a taste for melons should grow one of these crisp-fleshed types  They are the size of a peach.  I eat the skin and all the way to the center seed cavity.  Others may choose to peel them.  They make a great addition to a fruit salad.   Pkt. $2.00  Certified Organic Seed

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Sakata’s Sweet

Sakata’s Sweet - 75 days - Similar to Golden Sweet.  Crisp flesh, bright yellow skin, superb taste, about the size of a large apple.  May eat skin and all.  Pkt. $2.00

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