How do I know when my melons are ripe?
Unless you have some freakishly early variety – and if you do, I'd like to know the name of it – then not yet. Melons usually need to bask in the sun for a full growing season in order to properly mature.
Telling when a melon is fully ripe can be a bit tricky. The most popular garden varieties are muskmelon and honeydew, which tend to be a little easier to figure out than the rest. Both of these melons are ripe when they start to give off a sweet fragrance and the stems that attach the fruit to the vines crack. In addition, a muskmelon is ripe when the skin underneath the beige webbing turns yellow. A honeydew is ripe when its normally green skin starts to yellow.
Then there are the rest of the melons. Some of them are ripe when you shake them and can hear the seeds rattle. Others are ripe when they form a white or yellow patch on the underside. Still others are ripe when a gentle tug separates them from the vine. Then there are those that have a fuzzy surface when under-ripe but a shiny or waxy one when mature.
Talk about a mixed bag.
Writing down the date you planted your melons and keeping track of the expected days until maturity can be helpful. This information is usually available on the seed package or on the tags that come with store bought transplants.
You can also test for ripeness by thumping on your melons, much like you would when testing bread for doneness. An unripe melon has a different tone than a ripe one. This is a fairly reliable test once you develop the knack for it but, just like with bread, if you've never before heard the difference between the two sounds, it can be a bit of an adventure at first.
I have a general rule when I'm harvesting melons. When I thump on one and think it sounds ripe, I wait an extra week before picking it. So far, this method has worked very well and only occasionally do I end up with an under-ripe melon.
If you do harvest a melon before its sugars have fully developed, you can always use it in a stir-fry. It sounds a bit strange, but the crisp texture of a not-quite-ripe melon enhances a stir fry in much the same way that water chestnuts do.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
