From My Garden - cantaloupe

I grew up when fresh produce was locally grown and it was always vine ripe. We ate what was in season and if it couldn't be grown in California, we didn't eat it. There aren't too many things that won't grow in our area so it wasn't hard. Fast forward to today and most people haven't ever eaten a vine ripe anything and sadly have no idea what they are missing. Last year, the cantaloupes from my local produce shop were terrible. We only got one throughout the whole summer that was good. So my compost bin was full of cantaloupe seeds. This year I had some volunteers start up so I let them grow. I didn't think they would bear fruit since I didn't think commercial growers used heirloom seeds. Well, they set fruit and last night for dessert we had our first pick of vine ripe cantaloupe and it was great! We have about a dozen more in various stages so we should be all set for the next two months. One of the joys of having your own garden and living in California.