Northwest Melon Season is Here!
Many of us grew up melon-avoidant. Those cold, crunchy cubes, a mainstay of fruit platters and salad bars, too short on flavor to warrant real estate on our plates. Along with honeydew, cantaloupe was relegated to cheap filler fruit. The only semblance of relief in the dire melon landscape was the occasional watermelon you hoped was both sweet and lacking mealiness.
But, if OGC’s Rachel Pienovi has anything to do with it, those days of melon-malaise are over!
A buyer at OGC for over 10 years, Rachel has worked with our grower-partners to develop a melon program that is as diverse as it is delicious, and nothing resembling what most shoppers think of when they imagine eating melon.
This season, because of the planning that’s gone into the last few years, we will again have a strong program offering multiple varieties! We sat down with Rachel for a co-worker Q+A to learn more about the challenges and successes around OGC’s melon program.
Q: Melons seem to be experiencing a Renaissance. Why is that?
A: In general, shoppers are more interested in experiencing specialty products, and that includes melons. So many of the varieties of organic specialty melons are visually different from traditional types, so right away they pique some interest. Once shoppers experience the fragrance, flavor, and texture of specialty melons, they’re hooked.
Q: What motivated OGC to develop this program?
A: There have been organic specialty melon programs out of Northern California for going on six years now and we turn to these growers for early season fruit. While some specialty melons were grown in the Northwest previously, we realized there’s no reason why local growers couldn’t also have their own program, and that the season for those melons should be extended. Plus, there are a lot of melon fans at OGC.
Q: Have there been any challenges for either OGC or our grower-partners in developing this program?
A: Seed availability and growing logistics are the biggest. Growing these melons is a bit different from conventional melons. They’re a successive crop, so figuring out ripening windows and when to plant so we’re hitting the high demand months of July and August. Things like that take some time. Snow Leopard, a green speckled melon, has been particularly challenging.
And then of course, if growers can’t get seeds, that makes the program hard to execute. This season we’ve seen that with the Magenta, a lovely cantaloupe with green stripes on the rind and deeply orange flesh. Our growers just can’t get the seed.
Q: Our local melon season is starting right now! What are we in for?
A: In years past we’ve experienced over-production on a few varieties and have learned what the market responds to. So, we’re feeling really good about finding that balance.
A few varieties to look for this year are Hermiston Cantaloupes from Walchli Farms. They’re the most outstanding tasting cantaloupe. Schreiber and Sons produces a mini watermelon called Serval with deep red flesh that tastes incredible. Also from Schreiber and Sons, a new variety called Casaba, has a unique oval shape and averages 5lbs. making it a fun new melon to take home and try.
Traditionally we’ve had a hard stop on consumer interest in melons after Labor Day, but with everything happening with COVID-19 that may not be the case this year. We may see shoppers buying melons into September. If that’s true, varieties that store well will help feed that interest into the fall. New this year is the Crenshaw, which is a great storage melon!
Q: Any variety you personally can’t get enough of?
A: Charentais is a French cantaloupe variety and it’s really, really delicious.
Thanks to Rachel and our grower-partners for the years of trials and hard work they’ve put into growing OGC’s melon program! We hope you find your new favorite melon this summer!