Louie's Wonder Melon

Top performer in the 2023 all-staff melon tasting! Productive melon with round to elliptic fruits that have moderately dark orange flesh and weigh between 3-5.5 pounds. Rind is moderately netted with green/yellow veins and turns brownish yellow at maturity. Flavor is very pleasant, sweet, and refreshing. Deliciously juicy! BRIX was 11.4 when grown at Heritage Farm in 2020. Fruits measure between 4-6 inches long and 5.5-6.5 inches wide, have a low cracking tendency, mature early and abcise from the vine when ripe. This melon is a family heirloom and favorite of Joan and Linus Groenke of Glencoe, Minnesota. Joan shared seeds with SSE in 1997 and said it's named for her father, Louis McCalla. Joan estimates that Louis developed the melon fifty years earlier. Each year he would save seeds from the largest and sweetest fruits, repeating the process for 50 years. Joan says the result is "the best tasting muskmelon ever!" SSE Accession # 113293