The Compost KING Cantaloupe

This will be the breeding mate of the Compost Queen Cantaloupe next year.  I took this picture quite late last night and the camera would only focus on one thing so I had to patch in the close up focus of the five and a half pounds.  I don't blame it.  It was hard for me to focus on anything besides this huge cantaloupe. 

 I would give this one an A- for taste and an A+ for texture.  It only gets an A- only because the third melon I cut open (this is the fourth) was an A++ and as good a cantaloupe as you could ever wish for.  The third melon was sort of a unique shape being very round and sort of squashed at the poles.  I gave away a second melon that was shaped the same and my friend reported back it was the best melon she'd ever tasted and she was saving the seeds to try next year.  And she isn't even a vegetable gardener.  That's how excited a New Yorker gets when they taste a real cantaloupe and not one of those imposters they sell us at the grocery store.  

I had been waiting on this big boy for weeks, testing the stem every day.  I finally took the plunge last night and it did not disappoint.  It is very sweet and yielded over four cups.  I'm going to have some for breakfast right now.

As a reminder, these were all volunteers from my compost and they received ZERO care this summer.  I have picked seven cantaloupes so far and have five more to pick.  I will be planting these seeds next year hoping to continue a landrace strain of cantaloupe that will thrive in my garden.