Crane Melon Seed
Cucumis melo
Crane Melon Seed ( 80 days)
Sustainably Grown
Crane Melons are a local Sonoma County favorite!
Crane melons average 4-7 pounds.
Creamy orange flesh that is highly aromatic and complex in flavor.
We obtained our original seed stock from the Crane family.
The Slow Food Ark of taste says about Crane Melon seeds...
"Richard Hope Crane arrived in California from Missouri for the Gold Rush in 1849. He had been a farmer his whole life, like all of his forefathers. He mined gold for several years before arriving in Sonoma County in 1852. Oliver Crane, the son of Richard H. Crane, developed the Crane Melon in the early 1900s by crossing several varieties of melons, including a Japanese melon, a white melon, a Persian melon and an ambrosia melon among others. The Crane melon averages 4-7 pounds, is round like a soccer ball, and has a light orange flesh that is highly aromatic. The fruit is exceptionally sweet and juicy. As Jennifer Crane—the sixth generation to own and operate the Crane Ranch and grow the Crane melon-- explains, “The Crane melon’s flavor is due to its terroir. The melon was developed to be grown on the land that’s been in the Crane family for nearly 160 years --in a particular soil, within a specific climate zone, farmed in a certain style.”
Featured in the book Melons for the Passionate Grower
Chow.com says about Crane Melon seeds...
"It has a soft, buttery orange-flesh, very aromatic but not the musky aroma of cantaloupe. Very concentrated flavor with more complexity and not just sweetness, sort of like a cross between a cantalope and sharlyn. There are lots of flavor nuances, even a little banana. They refrigerate nicely without losing flavor."
