Do you recognize this melon? I found one like it at a Vietnamese market in Portland in 2013, saved the seeds, and planted them in 2014. The vines were vigorous and healthy, and the fruits oblong and fairly large, with netted yellow skins and pale orange flesh. These melons aren’t aromatic, but they are extremely sweet and wonderfully crisp. The texture is more like that of watermelon than that of cantaloupe.
Although I’m planning only a small summer garden this year, I’m once again including this melon. If you know what it is, please let me know!
Update 2021: The melon is a hami, a variety from China. I have grown hami melon several times since the original post, and I still love it.
Hi Linda! It’s a beautiful looking melon. Could you give us a bit more information? What size is it, and average weight? Maybe a couple more photos of the plants, leaves and an uncut side view? Does the stem pull away cleanly when ripe? It’ll help to get you a good ID. Thanks for all your postings. I’m a fan!
Thank you, Bonne! The stem does not pull away cleanly. In my garden the average fruit size was, I think, about 9 inches long. This summer I’ll do some weighing and measuring and take more photos, too.
The problem with trying to I’D melons is that they’re rather indiscriminate breeders and will form crosses with anything even remotely related, ie cukes. The closest in appearance and your description I’ve found is a Sharlyn or a Fortune F1 hybrid melon, but that’s just a guess.
Bonne, I think you’ve got it! The melon I bought wasn’t necessarily a Fortune F1 hybrid, but the Fortune is a hami melon, a melon of Chinese origin, and now I’m sure my melon is a hami, too. See the description here: http://www.foodista.com/food/7BTJHY4N/hami-melon#. And here’s a description of the Fortune F1 hybrid, from a seed seller: http://www.dpseeds.com/node/271. As far as I can tell, no hami melons are listed in the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook, so I will have to spread around some non-hybrid seed! Many thanks, Bonne.
Hi Linda, I have seen this fruit but don’t remember the name, though.
I would call this a Galia, but that is probably a Dutch name?
Loes, the Wikipedia entry on the Galia melon says that it was bred in Israel and that Galia is Hebrew for “God’s wave.” But the Galia melon is fragrant, and the flesh looks white in the Wikipedia photo.
Thanks Linda, I didn’t know they originated in Israel. I think Galia is the most common melon in The Netherlands. It is sometimes a bit green just underneat the rind, especially if not completely ripe, but the flesh is definitely not white, at least not in the melons we call Galia. I’m no expert, maybe what we call Galia is not the real deal. I don’t mind, I like them what ever they’re called ; )
Is this your Galia, Loes? http://blog.fairwaymarket.com/2012/05/love-those-melons-galia-melons-and-how-to-tell-if-a-melon-is-ripe/ (I think the Fairway Market is in New York.)
Yes that’s it. I actualy went to the market today en they had Galia’s for sale. Normally I wouldn’t buy them this early in the year but I was curious about the flesh colour. You had me intrigued! The colour was a soft yellowish green, definitely not as orange as your melon. And the taste was lacking alas, it is indeed to early for good melons around here. I enjoyed the little bit of fieldwork, I hope you will let us know if you find out he name of your melon.
Loes, I actually found out the name almost two weeks ago, but I failed to approve my own comment! I’ve just done that now. The melon is a hami, I’m nearly certain.