'Facussa' Chate Melon

Cucumis melo subsp. chate Origin: Tunisia, via San Pietro Island, South Sardinia, Italy Improvement status: Landrace Seeds per packet: ~15 Germination tested 12/2024: 95% Life cycle: Annual We're big fans of the cucumber-like melons known as "chate melons" — which are sweet, crunchy, "burpless," and never bitter — but no one is a bigger fan than our original source for this variety, Jay Tracy of The Cucumber Shop, who has amassed an impressive collective of these little-known melons. We first ordered a packet of these Sardinian 'Facussa' seeds simply because we were intrigued by the etymological connection to the Palestinian 'Fakous' chate melon which we have offered for a few years now, and because we wanted to see how similar or different the fruits are. As it turns out, they are quite distinct, but it's also very clear they're cousins — and the historical trajectory that brought this type of Middle Eastern melon (mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as "qishuim") to Italy is fascinating, e