First Melon Harvested Today!

I harvested my first melon EVER today! I'm a proud mama of this Minnesota Midget muskmelon. Its color had lightened considerably on the vine to a yellowish color over the last few days. I hadn't expected that. I thought it would be more of a pale gray or green when ripe. It exuded a nice sweet smell and slipped right off the vine when I nudged.

Once sliced, it revealed a large seed cavity with plenty of seeds. A seed-savers dream. The color was consistent with that of a store "cantaloupe". The flavor, on a scale of 1 (spit it out) to 10 (divine), was around a 6. I'm betting that was almost entirely my fault. I watered it quite a bit last evening since the foliage was heavily wilted. Plus, I didn't want to have to go out and water it again today. No doubt that my attempt at laziness cost me some of the sweetness. I've learned my lesson, and I will be much more cautious with my watering for the rest of the season.

Now if only the Iroquois muskmelons and Bush Sugar Baby watermelons would ripen. I have a knife, fork, and cutting board with their name on it.