Eden Gem (Rocky Ford Green Flesh) Melon

Currently unavailable, we suggest Charentais and Heart of Gold as alternatives.

90 days — 'Eden Gem' melons weigh two to three pounds, are heavily netted, slightly ribbed, and prolific. Its green flesh is very sweet and tasty. A very productive variety.

'Eden Gem', also known as 'Gem of Eden', 'Green Fleshed Rocky Ford', 'Improved Rocky Ford', and 'Genuine Rocky Ford', is a strain or selection of the old and well known variety, 'Netted Gem'. The 'Rocky Ford' melon was so improved over its progenitor that by the 1930s, the original 'Netted Gem' was no longer commercially available.

The exact history of the variety is obscured by time, as well as by dispute. Reportedly, in 1885, J. W. Eastwood of Colorado planted one-half acre of 'Netted Gem' seed he received directly from W. Atlee Burpee Company.^[2] We also know that the old D. V. Burrell Seed Growers, of Rocky Ford, Colorado, began carefully selecting from melons of uniform size, and commercially introduced the variety in 1899.^[1] There are about 33 seeds per one gram packet.