Melons (Bitter Melon, Casaba, WinterMelon, Crenshaw)

Bitter Melon:
Description - A member of the squash family, bitter melon has a taste similar to bland squash but more sour. Its shape is similar to a cucumber with light green skin but heavily warted. It is widely grown in tropical countries for using young fruits as cucumbers.

Culture - similar to cantaloupe.

Selection - The flesh is silvery green with pale brown seeds when ripe.

Casaba:
Description - The casaba is a winter variety of melon with a globular shape, pointed at the stem end. The rind is chartreuse-yellow with longitudinal wrinkles, but without netting. Flesh is creamy, white and juicy. It averages between four and seven pounds.

Culture - similar to cantaloupe

Selection - Flesh should be soft, creamy white, sweet and juicy. Ripeness is indicated by a yellow rind color and slight softening at the blossom end.

Crenshaw:
Description - The crenshaw has a rich, golden-pink flesh and is globe- shaped and pointed. It has a slightly wrinkled stem end and averages between 4 and 6 pounds in weight. The skin is golden at the peak of ripeness.

>Culture - similar to cantaloupe

Selection - Melons are round at the base coming to a point at the stem end. They will have a gold and green rind that is smooth with no netting and little ribbing. When ripe, they will show a softening of rind at the large end, have a golden skin and rich aroma.

Wintermelon:
Description - Grown for its thick white flesh used for the Chinese style soup and for cooking. There are two types--round and oblong. Fruit range in size from 8 to 12 pounds

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