Montreal Market Muskmelonn

Also known as Montreal Nutmeg, the best argument going for maintaining gene banks. Believed extinct, it was saved by Montreal cultural preservationists who finally located a few seeds in the USDA Ames, IA, repository in 1996. But then the cooperation worked in reverse with the help of a Quebecois customer. This very rare legendary green-fleshed muskmelon was once the most widely grown in Canada, New England and the Upper Midwest. Hedrick in The Cucurbits of New York asserted that “handled skillfully and intelligently produces the largest fruits of its type in American cultivation,” sometimes reaching 20 lb. With an exotic sweet spicy flavor as unique as its size, these became the summer dessert of choice in New York’s Waldorf Astoria, Boston’s Ritz and other stylish hotels, fetching growers as much as $30 per dozen in 1921, and costing more per slice than most steaks on the menu. Though commercialized by Burpee in 1881, its roots trace back to the early French settlers. Widely grown on the western edge of Montreal in Zone 5b, it gradually disappeared after World War II as urban expansion and an expressway swallowed up its preferred rich agricultural land and tastes shifted away from green-fleshed melons. Its thin rinds, large size and inability to store long also dampened its success. Intricately netted and prominently ribbed, the aromatic fruits have a silky texture and a spiciness reminiscent of nutmeg or ginger that excited Nikos at our taste test. Regular moisture and use of horse manure are said to be the secrets to good growth. In zones and microclimates other than Montreal’s more likely to grow 4–5 lb.