Melone Tendral Valenciano

Melone Tendral Valenciano. Late vigorous plant with round fruit and good dimensions.  Green peel with small troughs.  The pulp is white with a tint of green.  Fruit is tender and sugary.  A mild, sweet, juicy honeydew with pale green flesh and very dark green, slightly ribbed rind. First listed in American catalogues in the 1830s, but may go back further than that. Harvested in mid-October and stored at room temperature, it keeps extraordinarily well, easily into January, so it offers one response to the perennial localvore question “but what will I do for fresh fruit in winter?”!

The skin is dark green and the very sweet flesh is cream colored. Fruits can keep up to 4 months.  In this United states, the melon is planted about July 15 so that it will ripen late, for harvesting right before frost. The melons are then placed in storage to mellow and used through the months of December, January, and February. Properly harvested, these melons increase in flavor and sweetness during storage and are a welcome fresh fruit during winter.

Melon Valencia. Oval fruit. Dark green skin, sweet white flesh. 4-4 1/2 pounds. Fairly late at 105 days from direct seed; 10 days less from transplants.