Ok, the title may be a little excessive. Our first cantaloupe was harvested the other day. I was checking the garden, and one of the smaller mellons was considerably more orange/yellow than a few days before. About all I know about cantaloupe harvesting is they “slip”, or detach from the vine, when they are ripe. This one was still attached to the vine, and I poked at the connection with one finger to see how well it was attached still. Pop! The immediate answer was that with very little pressure it was attached no longer.
Steph happened to pull into the driveway moments later. I announced that, “I picked a melon for you!” Then proceeded to explain how easily it had come off the vine. Regrettably, I didn’t think to take a picture before cutting it open. It was roughly the size of both my fists, and made for an excellent two servings of cantaloupe.
A few days later I was looking at the other similarly sized melon, and noticed it had detached itself overnight. So we will be consuming it later today. The largest melon still hasn’t self selected, so we will let it continue ripening a few more days. And the smallest remaining melon is still only the size of a tennis ball, so we’re hoping it can grow a bit bigger before the cool nights finish the plant off.