ISSUE 42, MELONS, Part 2: Eden Gem

Eden Gem (Rocky Ford) Melon

This middling sized netted, green fleshed melon was launched as a commercial variety by J. Atlee Burpee in 1881.  Melon growers in Rocky Ford, Colorado, adopted it as a crop melon and commenced its intensive monoculture in 1884 creating a national brand. Fifteen years of planting saturated the Rocky Ford Valley’s melon lands w…