Ark of Taste Crane Melon
Introducing Crane Melons, a rare gem from the Slow Food Ark of Taste collection! This 4-6 pound, tear-drop shaped melon has light orange flesh that is highly aromatic, fruity-sweet and exceptionally juicy. The melon is rarely available in conventional markets; customers buy Cranes from the Melon Barn on Petaluma Hill Road and at local farmers’ markets from September until the first frost. Now you can grow these in your own backyard!
Support the Ark of Taste Aunt Crane Melon - 10% of sales goes to Slow Food USA!
Here's the Heritage Story:
In Sonoma County (Ca), Crane is synonymous with melon. The season coincides with our Indian summer and grape harvest. The Cranes (from Missouri) first settled in Sonoma County in the 1850s after the Crane brothers left the gold fields of the Sierra foothills where they were grocers. They settled in the southern Santa Rosa area and became farmers. In the 1920s, Oliver Crane planted a Japanese melon that had a reputation for growing well, un-irrigated, in clay soils common in some parts of the county. He thought the melon was too thin-skinned and fragile, so he crossed it with a cantaloupe. His resulting melon (a bit more sturdy) was known as the “Japanese melon” until World War II when the local farmers changed the name to Crane. Four generations of the Crane family have raised these melons which they sell direct-to-consumers from their old Melon Barn. In the 1990s the family lost their attempt to restrict the legal use of “Crane” to only those melons grown on their farm. Today, the Crane melon is grown by several growers who farm in the county’s warm, inland valleys. This 4-6 pound, tear-drop shaped melon has light orange flesh that is highly aromatic, fruity-sweet and exceptionally juicy. The melon is rarely available in conventional markets; customers buy Cranes from the Melon Barn on Petaluma Hill Road and at local farmers’ markets from September until the first frost. When perfectly ripe, it has a tendency to crack open and perish.
Plant Specifications:
Harvest Crane Melons when they reach full maturity, indicated by a creamy yellow color, a sweet fragrance, and a slight softening of the stem end. Use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut the melons from the vine, leaving a short stem attached.
Make sure to plant in nutrient dense soil, especially optimized for growing fruiting plants. You can purchase our magic organic soil and organic soil boosters (micro and macro nutrients in the form of marine-based fertilizers, worm castings, and beneficial fungi) specifically curated for fruiting plants to help improve your soil.
- Growing Season: Most fruiting plants have their peak growing season starting in Spring and extending through Fall. They need the warm days and nights to produce fruit.
- Harvest Method: As soon as the plant bears the fruit, harvesting can begin and will continue through the season. Most fruiting plants grow through a season and then are done.
- First Harvest: Fruiting plants take longer to bear fruit and can take 2-3 months to get to a harvesting stage.
- Final Harvest: Occurs at the end of summer and into early Fall for most climates. Some plants, such as strawberries will become dormant in Winter and then pop back into action in the Spring.
- Best Planted Wall Placement: Fruiting plants, like micro-tomatoes and jalapenos, that are smaller can grow on the Planted Wall. Place micro-tomatoes and jalapenos that grow in the Planted Wall near the top so you can maximize sun and warmth during the Summer. Larger fruiting plants are intended to be grown in larger grow pots (i.e. 15 gallon pots)
Most fruiting plants prefer warmer temperatures and will be dormant or grow very slowly in mild winter climates.
You want to be aware of the extreme temperature ranges in your region. If you follow the guidelines below, you will be safe:
COLD CLIMATES
- If you live in a location where the temperatures dip below freezing, then you will want to wait to grow fruiting plants until night temperatures are in the 50's consistently.
WARM CLIMATES:
- If you live where it reaches above 90 degrees consistently, you'll want to grow heat tolerant fruiting plants (tomatoes and peppers) and herbs (basil, mint, rosemary) primarily.
To find out what extreme temperatures your location experiences, check out the USDA zone for your region.
We always ship our organic seedlings at their peak for transplant which means they can be held before shipping. We typically ship plants according to the following schedule:
CA - ship Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
US states outside of CA - ship Mondays and Tuesdays.
Outside of US - we do not currently ship outside of the US.
For more information, refer to our shipping policy.
Don't worry we tend to over-communicate the details when it comes to logistics. You'll know when orders (both seedlings and other garden products) are shipped.
