Edith on our world-famous cantaloupes

by Edith Isidoro-Mills -- It’s that time again when Churchill County invites everyone to come and celebrate our famous cantaloupes.  People from many miles around come to marvel at the melons raised here and wonder what the secret is to raising such delicious melons.  Even some of our local gardeners wonder how the local farmers manage to get a good crop of melons year after year. This is the weekend that Churchill County invites everyone to come and celebrate our famous melons.  They have a sweetness that just isn't in the supermarket sold melons.  There are some reasons for that. One secret is our hot climate.  Melons are warm season plants whose seed won’t even germinate until the temperature has been consistently above 60ºF and once germinated thrive at temperatures of 60ºF at night to between 80ºF to 100ºF during the day.  Dry weather is not a problem as long as the melon plants receive adequate irrigation.   In fact the origins of this crop appear to be either Afghanistan or ancient Persia; both relatively dry regions of the world. The climate in Churchill County isn’t quite as ideal as some other places like California where melon growers can raise multiple crops of melons and harvest melons from June through September or October.  Cantaloupes take between 80 and 90 days from seed to ripe fruit depending on the variety.  The growing season here in Churchill county is not much longer than that so in order to extend the period of time melons are available local growers rely on greenhouse grown starts and hot caps so they can start having melons the end of July or early August.  In years when the fall frost comes late they may have melons as late as late September to early October. To ensure that melons are available through the entire period from August to late September, local growers also do multiple planting of melons on different dates in the spring. Proper watering and fertilization are required to get good melon setting and good sizing of the melons.  However, all of this doesn’t guarantee a good melon unless the grower knows when a melon is ripe.  The cantaloupes Churchill County is famous for are not ripe until the green behind the outer netting is gone and the stem slips from the fruit such that only a smooth indented spot is left after picking. Unlike pears, apples, or tomatoes that will ripen further after being picked melons will only soften but all the sugars and compounds associated with a ripe melon will not increase after ripening.  The reason these sugars and other compounds won’t increase is that melon plants don’t store starch in the fruit.  Instead it must be translocated to the fruit from other locations in the plant while the fruit is ripening.  This means a melon picked too soon will not be very flavorful. Once picked, Cantaloupes can keep for up to 16 days depending on storage conditions.  Commercially they are stored in a cooler set to maintain a temperature between 36ºF and 41ºF. Finally, there is another secret.  The great different between morning and afternoon temperatures, typical of high desert climates, has a sweetening effect on most fruits.  Less of the carbohydrate in the fruit turns into starch.  Instead, it remains as sugar. As mentioned above you want to make sure the melon is ripe or it won't be very sweat. If you didn't get any melons in your garden you can always go by produce stands of one of our local farmers raising vegetables.   Check out the other produce as well.       Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.