'Minnesota Midget' Melon

Cucumis melo Origin: St. Paul, MN Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~30 Germination tested 11/2022: 98% Life cycle: Annual This beloved Upper Midwest heirloom was bred for northern growers at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, and released to the world in 1948 (introduced to commerce by Farmer Seed and Nursery Company, formerly of Faribault, Minnesota). As indicated by it's name — which is of course highly offensive if used to describe a person, but more-or-less acceptable for a melon (it comes from the word "midge", which desribes tiny insects) — this melon produces small 4 to 5 inch round fruits. When fully ripe, pale yellow skin with light cantaloupe-esque netting conceals the sweet orange flesh inside. The fruits are known to fall off the vine early, so falling off the vine is not a good way to tell when they're ripe (but smell is one helpful indicator). This is one of the shortest-season melons you'll find, sometimes ripening in as little as 60 days, which means