There are a few superstar in my vegetable garden every yr , and for the first time ever , a melon is on the list . Although I usually grow a cantaloupe variety or two , this twelvemonth I tried a Piel de Sapo form called Lambkin , and I was not let down .
Lambkin is a hybrid Piel de Sapo melon vine and was an All American Selections success in 2009 . Piel de Sapo translate as “ tegument of the frog , ” so I was bear the rind of this variety to be bumpy and unattractive , but I found the antonym to be true . The unruffled hide is mottle with gold and gullible , and the flesh in spite of appearance is greenish white , a footling paler than honeydew melon . Lambkin is one of the most delicious melons I ’ve ever tasted . It ’s voluptuous and seraphic with a small germ cavity .
Piel de Sapo melons are read to have a very long shelf life , realize them the nicknames “ Christmas melon vine ” and “ Santa Claus melon . ” They can be kept on a shelf at room temperature for six or more weeks , though like mostother melons , they must ripen on the vine .
The bulk of Piel de Sapo melons are quite big , reach 1 foot long with an ellipse shape , but Lambkin is a miniature - sized survival of the fittest . Each fruit weighs only 2 to 4 pound sterling . Full - sized varieties require a very long growing time of year of at least 110 days , but Lambkin only needs 75 , meaning innorthern mood , you wo n’t have to depart the seeds indoors in parliamentary law to get fruit in northern climate . I sow a few Lambkin semen directly into my Pennsylvania garden on May 30 and harvested my first fruit on August . Each industrial plant yielded three or four fruits .
Piel de Sapo melons originate in Spain , where they are very popular . Here in the U.S. , these melons and their xanthous - colored cousin-german , the canary melon vine , are starting to regularly appear on market depot shelves . I ’ve enjoyed store - bought melon vine many metre but have never grown my own before . After try out Lambkin , I now fuck I will raise them every twelvemonth without fail .
Unlike some other melons , which sneak off the vine and are extremely fragrant when advanced , the problematical rind of Piel de Sapo melon forbid the narrate - tale odour from escaping the mature fruit , and the yield stays connected to the vine . I ’ve found that the best room to tell when the melon vine are ready for crop is to take note of the pelt , which change state white-livered when it ’s good . The prime close will be slightly soft , and the leaf nearest the stem will start to turn brown — that ’s when I cut the melon vine from the vine and take it into the kitchen .
While the still - lovesome anatomy of a saucily find fault Lambkin melon vine is luscious , I much opt to eat it at room temperature . And I believe they have the best flavor when left on the counter for a few daylight before cutting .
Next year , I ’m going to grow these melonsup a trellisinstead of allowing them to prevail along the land . The vines are not farseeing — each one spreads only about 5 or 6 feet away from its base — but keeping them off the ground will hopefully aid keep the squash hemipterous insect aside and will save me some precious material estate .
