Welcome to my world of Urban Farming here in the Dallas Metroplex!

Above is a photo I took July 30, 2013 of the first cantaloupe I ever grew.  

On July 7 the cantaloupe was growing out of a pot in my front yard and looked like this photo shown below.  Only 23 days later and the beauty shown above is displayed in my kitchen.  It’s the largest non-human thing I’ve ever grown and I forgot to weigh it!

What kind of a parent am I!!!!!!

I was so focused on tasting it that I lost track of much else.  But I will say that it was slightly larger than most cantaloupes purchased at the supermarket and a lot more beautiful.

Nothing can compare to a cantaloupe still warm from the sun and just picked from your own garden. It was a delicious nutty melon flavor.  The perfect texture:  Firm but not crunchy firm like so many melons purchased in the supermarket. Its skin had a golden glow, much like the color of its inside–not green like the ones in the store.  It was wonderful and yes, I have not only saved the seeds, I planted one of them and a healthy vine is now growing in one of my gardens.  With a little bit of Luck I'll have more cantaloupes before the first frost.  In addition, the mother vine that produced my first beauty has two promising female blossoms that are swelling so I may have more great cantaloupes long before a frost as well.

LESSONS LEARNED:  I can grow delicious food from a container--and if I can, believe me, you can too.  Eat cantaloupes as soon as possible after picking them. (I refridgerated the cantaloupe after eating three slices.  The cold slices did not taste nearly as flavorful as the one fresh from the garden--still even the refridgerated slices were superior to any cantaloupe I've eaten for years.)

Below is the Queen cantaloupe on July 7, 2013.

Below is the vine and pot from whence grew the queen cantaloupe.