Guide to Charentais Melons. Sublimely Sweet.

Sources Listed at bottom of article.

Charentais is the Sweetest of the Small Melon Varieties.

All seeds grown in the high wind prairie, Midwest, in macro-climate zone 5(ish). Average dewpoint in summer is around 60. Soil is a loamy clay. Although my preference is organic, I have used commercial fertilizers from time to time. Growing days are approximately 135.

Tell Us About This Melon

Charentais actually refers to a general type of melon, not a singular type. A true French Charentais has a green peachy color of the edible meat, as though it is a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew melon. Most Charentais labeled seeds in the US have been hybridized to where the meat is the expected orange of a cantaloupe. Still Charentais, yet not exactly the Charentais of France, the origin of the parent Charentais.

I find Charentais melons easy to grow. I have started the seeds indoors and then transplant at 3-4 weeks and direct seeded this variety in the garden. Direct seeding tends to be the best method to seed starting, if you have the option available. Sometimes a shorter growing season doesn’t allow a direct seed. If you have 100 or more growing days in your season, Charentais will work for your location. Ensure all risk of frost has passed and the soil stays above 50 degrees Fahrenheit/10 Celsius, day or night. Let’s be honest, very few of us are running outside at night with soil thermometers to check temperature. Plants the seeds or transplant the plants 2 weeks after the last frost date for your area and the plants will thrive 99% of the time.

If you have typical good loamy soil (loamy clay and loamy sandy work as well), a balanced fertilizer at bloom set will work well, yet is not required. I have gown these without fertilization and got two to three per vine.

The flavor of this melon is sublime. Highly aromatic, highly sweet and juice. The meat of the fruit at peak ripeness has the expected softness of a typical ripe cantaloupe. The flavor is typical of cantaloupe yet seems additionally sweet. I have not noticed other flavor notes like citrus or yogurt…Charentais is a deeply sugary cantaloupe flavor.

I purchased a Brix tool, a refractometer. A refractometer measures the sugar crystals in the tested organic matter, most commonly fruits and vegetables. I look forward to doing some caparisons this summer.

Charentais melons are smaller than the typical grocery store cantaloupe, weighing in at around two pounds. I have grown Charentais the size of large grapefruits and Charentais the size of a small cantaloupe, There is definitely a variability in size, so it’s best to ignore size when testing readiness for harvest.

A ready-to-harvest Charentais will take on a yellow tone, slip easily from the vine or have already fallen off the vine. It will be insatiably aromatic and slightly softer. I have noticed that a Charentais melon can often achieve final ripeness in a day or so; it’s a melon best checked daily to catch it while ripe. Bugs love this melon and will attack it the second it falls or cracks. Charentais cracks easily and quickly once completely ripe.

Charentais does best with babysitting, if you don’t want to lose it to cracking and critters.

OK, I Caught the Melon at Perfect Ripeness, Now What?

1. Eat it.
   -Melon Salad
   -Add to a fruit salad
   -Add to a water pitcher, make some melon water
   -Half, scoop and use as a bowl for cottage cheese, a feta salad, fruit salad.
   -Ball it and freeze it to chill a punch or melon water.
   -Slice and Serve chilled or no.
   -Fresh greens salad with balsamic drizzle, feta and melon
   -sit in the garden, crack it open and munch, like a true savage
   -make a “drink” with Charentais. There are many cocktails using melon and vodka or gin.
   
2. Store in the fridge. Cantaloupe can store in the fridge up to three days and maintain flavor and consistency. Ensure there are not frequent temperature changes, which can make the meat mealy.
   
3. A storage note: Cantaloupe produce Ethylene, a gas that can accelerate ripening of other fruits and vegetables. Take care when storing, if you do not (or wish too) speed of ripening of other produce that is ethylene sensitive.
   
4. Cube and freeze, ball and freeze or puree and freeze. Can maintain quality with even freezing temperature for six months.

Thank You for Stopping By! I hope you found this article useful.

Sources

Melons 2003-2004

Produce 101: Melons

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