While picking cucumbers in my garden the other day, I reached for one and noticed that it was incredibly round, and the texture was different, and the color was not green…I looked at it for about a minute before I realized it was no cucumber, it was a cantaloupe! How the heck did that get there? I didn’t plant any cantaloupes! I am companion planting and didn’t even know it! I guess a cantaloupe seed defected over to the cucumber seed bin! But I love surprises, and cantaloupe is one of my favorites, so it was a welcome novelty aside it’s vined cousins.
Some interesting facts about cantaloupes:- Black cats love it.
- It is good to help you quit smoking.
- It's good to make the sun out of if you're doing a model of the solar system in grade school.
- Penicillin owes everything to the cantaloupe.
- Cantaloupe was named after Cantalupo, Italy, the city where cantaloupe was originally cultivated from Armenia melon seeds in the 1700’s.
- Christopher Columbus transported melon seeds to the United States, which were later cultivated by Spanish explorers in California.
- To see if your cantaloupe is ripe just shake it. You should be able to hear the seeds when it is 100% ripe.
- You can blend the seeds & their pulp with pineapple juice for a 'nutty' milk.
- Cantaloupe, which is actually called a muskmelon, is the most common melon within the United States.
- Cantaloupe is part of the melon family which includes squash, cucumber, gourds, and pumpkin.
(Interesting facts found here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091213161646AAkyyeJ,http://lsned.com/facts/penicillin-invention/, http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/NJ%20Quick%20Steps/NJ_Qk_Steps_Participant/Cantaloupe.pdf, http://sweetkisses9187.hubpages.com/hub/Fruit-Tips-and-Tricks-Exposed, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDELz3OblT8, http://www.purplekittyyarns.com/fruits-and-vegetables/cantaloupe)
As I have written before, my favorite part of gardening are the “surprises” that God throws in. He will roll in a few thunderbolts in our lives as well. We think we have it all figured out and boom, there is that round, course fruit where a cucumber should be. These surprises in life are not always as pleasant as they are in the garden, but they are proof that God is in control and we are not! His ways are not our ways and He alone authored the plan for our lives, not to be directed or altered by us. Thus, some surprises we will experience.
A little melon in the mix of life is not always a bad thing. It may add a different spin on what was originally planned, but also adds a little spice to the original plan. In my case, I will be mixing my cantaloupe with the peppers and onions for a sweet and savory salsa! Bon appetite! "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. – Isaiah 55:8 NIV
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