Garden treasures: Sakata Sweet melon

October vibes can be felt all over our garden, now facing its first frost. Under these circumstances, I have been trying to use up or to preserve as much as possible before the cold season takes hold. Today, I am sharing with you one of this year’s highlights, and one of the sweetest fruits I have ever tasted: Sakata melon 🙂

“Sakata’s Sweet melons are native to Japan and are an heirloom variety primarily grown as a home garden cultivar. Much of the melon’s history is unknown, but the variety was released through the Sakata Seed Corporation in Yokohama City within the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. Outside Japan, Sakata’s Sweet melons are also offered in seed catalogs in China and the United States (…) Due to their short shelf life, the melons are not commercially grown and are advertised as a home garden variety.”

I came across Sakata seeds at my local library. I didn’t know anything about the fruit, but I was excited to try growing it. This variety is resilient and very productive. Once they are ripe, the melons turn pale yellow and start producing the sweetest aroma, signaling that they are ready for harvesting.

I love their miniature size and edible rind, and I have been eating them whole, like apples, or in combo with other fruits and herbs from our garden. Here, you have a breakfast of sakata melon with cherry tomatoes, strawberries, goat cheese with Amarena cherries (an Aldi find) and fresh mint, topped with LOVE CORN (previously reviewed here) and drizzled with lilac honey.

The flavor of this melon reminds me of a super sweet honeydew, while its juiciness resembles that of watermelon, imo. Compact, resilient and portable, Sakata melons are a delicious culinary discovery, brightening my fall days, as I contemplate next year’s growing season with excitement and anticipation.

I encourage you to check out your local library to see if they have free seeds. The locations of Chicago library seeds can be found here.

Do you have a favorite melon variety? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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