African horned melon in African Horned Melon

By greene
March 13, 2014

This fruit has many names. It originated in Africa and has been called Horned Melon, Hedged Melon, Melano, and a few other names, the most amusing one being Jelly Melon and the most inexplicable one being English Tomato. The fruit made its way to New Zealand, where the name 'Kiwano' was added (patented name) because they had such good luck getting the world to eat Kiwi fruit and thought Kiwano would catch on more quickly than African Horned Melon.

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texaskitty111

Mar 12, 2014 7:35 PM CST

Thread OP

Name: tk
97478 (Zone 8b)

That was fascinating. Always like to read about new, ah... fruits?.....vegetables?.......Halloween ammunition? Thanks

| @texaskitty111 | Post #570016 (1)

greene

Mar 12, 2014 9:51 PM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

I have some seeds if anyone wants to try growing these. The germination test was even better than in the article - 33 of the 36 seeds germinated.

(@texaskitty111, Halloween ammunition -

)

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #570066 (2)

DavidofDeLand

Mar 13, 2014 5:33 AM CST

Name: David Paul
(Zone 9b)

Fascinating, fun and well written article Greene!

[email protected]
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Gree...

| @DavidofDeLand | Post #570131 (3)

wildflowers

Mar 13, 2014 8:06 AM CST

Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!

Great article, Greene!!

What an interesting fruit. And what a nice bonus for you to offer seeds!

May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

| @wildflowers | Post #570195 (4)

Horseshoe

Mar 13, 2014 5:52 PM CST

Name: Horseshoe Griffin
Efland, NC (Zone 7a)
And in the end...a happy beginning!

Nice article, greene. And great to see you really put this horned melon to the test...growing it, eating it, saving seeds, etc.

Looking forward to your NEXT write-up~

Shoe

MoonDance Farm

| @Horseshoe | Post #570491 (5)

greene

Mar 13, 2014 8:34 PM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

Thanks for the nice words everyone. Never knew writing could be so much fun.

Hey @Horseshoe, I failed to put the melons through ALL the tests.
@texaskitty111 pointed out

one flaw in my studies -

growing
eating
saving seeds
and...THROWING

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #570572 (6)

mcash70

Mar 15, 2014 11:03 AM CST

Name: Margaret
Near Kamloops, BC, Canada (Zone 3a)

Very interesting article on a strange looking, and from the sounds of it, tasting fruit. Good job green!

| @mcash70 | Post #571468 (7)

greene

Mar 15, 2014 2:24 PM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

Thanks.
And it's very easy to grow!

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #571598 (8)

greene

Apr 3, 2014 2:21 PM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

This next part will give you an idea of how disorganized I am, but what the heck...

I had tested the Horned Melons to see how long I could store them at room temperature; that was in the article already.

But I just found another Horned Melon that had fallen behind something on a very unused part of my kitchen (behind the cookbooks). And, yep, it's still good. Do these things ever go bad?

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #582900 (9)

texaskitty111

Apr 19, 2014 10:36 AM CST

Thread OP

Name: tk
97478 (Zone 8b)

Did you test them for throwing distance, and splatter radious yet?

| @texaskitty111 | Post #593430 (10)

mcash70

Apr 19, 2014 2:14 PM CST

Name: Margaret
Near Kamloops, BC, Canada (Zone 3a)