Cantaloupe

Our farm-fresh cantaloupe is grown without synthetic pesticides in Lineville, Alabama and harvested at peak flavor. A fresh, local favorite for the Alabama table. Sold fresh through local Alabama delivery, farm pickup, and our farmers-market stand.

• Grown in: Lineville, Alabama (no synthetic pesticides)
• Freshness: Harvested at peak and sold fresh
• Availability: Seasonal - local Alabama delivery & pickup
• Storage: Refrigerate and enjoy fresh
• Why it's good: Nutrient-dense and picked at peak freshness

• Storage: Whole at room temperature until it smells sweet at the stem end, then refrigerated
• Shelf life: About a week whole once ripe; 3 to 4 days refrigerated in a sealed container once cut
• Washing: Scrub the rind with water before you cut it, even though you are not eating the rind. A knife drags whatever is on the outside straight through the flesh.
• Using: Cold and plain is hard to beat. It also takes salt, chilli, lime, mint or prosciutto well, because the flesh is sweet and low-acid and wants a counterweight.

Why wash a rind I am going to throw away?
Because the blade carries the outside in. Netted melon rinds hold soil in their webbing, and cutting through unwashed rind is the main way melon gets contaminated. A scrub and a dry towel takes ten seconds.

How do I tell if it is ripe?
Smell the stem end - a ripe cantaloupe is fragrant, and an unripe one smells of nothing. The scar where the stem was should be smooth and slightly sunken, not a cut stub, which means it was pulled early.

Will it ripen more after picking?
It softens and gets more aromatic, but it does not gain sugar. Melons stop sweetening the moment they come off the vine, which is why vine-ripe matters.