Kirkagac 637

[chancethegardener]

This is one of the legendary melons that used to have a significant circulation in Turkey. It is native to Kirkagac (Manisa province) which is located in Western Turkey, home of Casaba-type melons. By the way, Kasaba means "town" in Turkish.

Recently, regional development agencies/local government/entrepreneurs installed temperature-controlled storage units to keep the melons fresh up to 6 months to support the local growers. Yes, it is a keeper.

Kirkagac 637 looks a lot like the variety "Santa Claus" shown in Amy Goldman's "Melons for the Passionate Grower" book, on page 93 (2002 edition). Definition given in the book also matches Kirkagac's origin. I think it was somehow "renamed."

I have grown Kirkagac 637 this season. Plant was very productive although I lost fruits to worms and rotting due to wet conditions. Lately we have received a lot of rain here in Tampa and the biggest fruit on the plant started to crack at the bottom so I harvested it early just to see what I would have before the fruit was invaded by fruit flies. On top of harvesting early, I am guessing that also due to heavy rains, sugars haven't built up properly. I remember eating this melon when I was a child: it was super sweet and juicy. Still, even when unripe, the aroma of the melon filled our living room. It was juicy, definitely refreshing, and somewhat sweet.. Perfect for juicing!

The melon in the pictures weighed 6 lbs and 7 oz. It was 10'' long, 2'' thick towards the stem end, and 6'' thick towards the blossom end. One mistake I did growing this melon was to grow a Charentais within a close proximity. Next time I will spend extra effort to do a better job for protecting Kirkagac since I have more heirloom seeds to do so. On the other hand, I will definitely share some seeds from this grow-out in the future to hear about others' experiences.

[Tania]

Beautiful melon! Thank you for keeping it around and introducing it to us.

Tatiana

[gardenfrog]

I'm glad you still have a garden after all that rain! Hope you get some normalsy for the rest of the season! Thanks for sharing your info!!!

[chancethegardener]

Well, I am trying my best but next year I may need to shift the growing season. Summer is probably not the best season here in Florida to grow certain plants . On the other hand, I don't think that I will have patience to wait for the end of the summer for growing tomatoes .

Following is a video from public broadcast, TRT (Turkish Radio Television), showing the storage units that can hold a total of 120 tons of melons. Apparently, what they are trying to do is to extend the market season to February-March of the following year so that the farmers can sell their produce for higher prices in those months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZJIgnXvfEw

[chancethegardener]

Bobby from mhpgardener on youtube has posted a video where he shows the Kirkagac melon he grew from the seeds I sent him (he is also a member of Tomatoville). He also grew some determinate tomato seeds I sent him but apparently that variety ended up with no fruits, maybe due to heat .

I will ask him to comment here on the taste of the melon. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ww12Ue7O0Q

[vagardener434]

I thought it was a great melon. Similar in taste and texture to a honey dew, but sweeter. I guess I should have weighed it first. But I was more concerned with doing some eating ! It was absolutely loaded with seeds and they have been drying on the top of the fridge. Much like your situation of growing them with Charentais nearby, I had Israeli melons directly beside the Casabas and Charentais in the next bed. So I guess its possible that they may have crossed. There's only one way to find out.....go plant some seeds. I might have time to grow them out again before the season is over.