🌱 Singing with glee, these two are so happy to be on the scene! Cantaloupe derives its name from the town of Cantalupo, Italy, where cantaloupe seeds arrived from Armenia and were planted in the Papal Gardens in the 16th century. Their past is mysterious! No one seems able to pin-point exactly where cantaloupe first showed up. Some historians trace the origins of the muskmelon to Biblical times in Egypt and Greece. Others point to Persia. According to the University of Illinois, the oldest illustrated reference to a cantaloupe dates back to 2400 B.C. in Egypt. Ancient records from Greece also make mention of the cantaloupe. 👀

🌱 FUN FACTS: They have plenty of relatives! Cantaloupe are members of a vine-crop family known as Cucurbitaceae, which includes other melons, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and gourds. These cantaloupes can tell you when they’re ripe. The vine will naturally slip from the fruit when it’s harvest time. You’ll also notice the skin will turn creamy-beige under the “netted” pattern on the melon.