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Melons


Teamedup
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We aren't in a melon growing area, but usually I manage to buy very good melons, only not this year. They have been poor to awful so far and we have been having them every day or every other day for several weeks now.

And to add to the insult of lack of taste they are expensive this year too. I suspected they might be due to the lack of water in some french regions, but I had hoped that the sun would have sweetened them.

Friends say that the growers have been picking them before they are ripe and there's no chance that they will be as sweet as they should be.

So who else has been getting decent melons. It's the green ones with the orange flesh I'm talking about.

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Hi

there is quite a lot of melon growing in my area. Water is not a problem : the irrigation canals have no restrictions.

This year's cold snap in March seems to have delayed all the plants by up to one month compared to previous years.

The melons are just starting. My local producer erected his sales pitch by a local roundabout last weekend, but the prices are still high.

So I think "normal service will be resumed" soon.

Peter

 

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We,ve been having them for about 2 weeks now from our little veggie man in the village and they are.......sweet and delicious..mmmmm. I,d post one on to you TU but I don,t think it would make it in the post

Janey

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It is far too early for melons in this part of the world (North LOT) and we tend to only buy from the local market - the supermarket ones are dire as a friend bought some. We have been through the strawb season, cherries and now are stuffing ourselves with local peaches. Melons, when they arrive will go through to the autumn so we are happy to wait. You should buy melons by smell - if they don't knock your head off with their perfume they have not been ripened properly.

Our melon plants have gone mad, loads of leaf (I have never seen such huge plants but still no embryo fruit to speak of) and are earlier than normal - that said it is tipping it down here and about 17 outside when it was 30+ on Sunday so that will do them no good at all. The tomatoes here are also suffering and even seasoned growers have dug up the mildewed vines of peas without hardly tasting them. It is a very weird year.

I have always thought that 'blossom end rot' on tomatoes was due to 'bad watering' well I have even had total black tomatoes this year and the farmer puts it down to the weather.

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I too started buying the french green/orange flesh melons when the price was reasonable (2 for 3€ and even 0,80€ each) and then the price suddenly went up within a week to 2€ each and are still just only a little less. I have to agree that they are not juicy this year unlike previous years and we have been disappointed too. In fact I have been buying the large Spanish pasteque water melons that have the soft edible pips in and they are wonderful and not expensive for the amount you get.
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Same here in Normandy.  For about a week you could get teo for 2€ but then they started creeping up and got to 4€ each!  They're now coming down a bit. I think yesterday they were about 1.90€ each but nowhere near their usual flavour.  So I bought a spanish galia melon for 2€.  That was lovely..... sweet and very juicy, just a bit anaemic compared to the lovely orange flesh of the charantais melons.
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Hi there: I think that you are talking about Cavaillon melons, now trademarked. Dowhere I visit the Cavaillon M.I.N. and get the melons for free,they are either rejected (EU regs) or deemed not sweet enough for the market. They throw away tons of fruit every day, mostly because of EU regs. Consequently all the small farmers have the best fed livestock in the south of France. As a matter of interest what are you paying for raspberries? I ask because the small suppliers here are getting less than 1 euro/kilo, if they can sell them. Even with subsidies who'd be a small farmer?

Rgds Wilko

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Hi there: I think that you are talking about Cavaillon melons, now trademarked. Dowhere I visit the Cavaillon M.I.N. and get the melons for free,they are either rejected (EU regs) or deemed not sweet enough for the market. They throw away tons of fruit every day, mostly because of EU regs. Consequently all the small farmers have the best fed livestock in the south of France. As a matter of interest what are you paying for raspberries? I ask because the small suppliers here are getting less than 1 euro/kilo, if they can sell them. Even with subsidies who'd be a small farmer?

Rgds Wilko

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