About This Variety
Noir des Carmes is a stunning French heirloom melon dating back to the 1700s, originally cultivated by Carmelite monks. The rind starts dark green to almost black, then turns orange as the fruit ripens — making it easy to tell when it's ready. The flesh is deep orange, incredibly sweet, and intensely aromatic.
This is a rare variety and genuinely worth preserving. At 75-80 days to maturity, it's reasonably early for a European melon. The flavor is exceptional — complex and fragrant in a way that modern commercial melons simply aren't. If you can get pure seed from this one, it's a treasure.
How to Save Seeds
- Let the melon ripen fully on the vine — past prime eating stage, until the stem slips easily or the skin softens noticeably.
- Cut the melon open and scoop all the seeds into a bowl of water.
- Swish the seeds around — viable seeds will sink to the bottom, while pulp and duds float to the top.
- Pour off the floating pulp and empty seeds.
- Rinse the remaining good seeds in a fine strainer under running water.
- Spread seeds in a single layer on a plate or screen to dry for 1-2 weeks in a well-ventilated area.
- Store in a labeled envelope in a cool, dry place. Include variety name and year.
Tip: Noir des Carmes is rare enough that it's worth the effort to hand-pollinate a few fruits for pure seed. Even one or two bagged melons will give you plenty of seeds to keep this variety going.
Cross-Pollination Warning
WARNING — Your garden has a cross-pollination problem.
You are growing Noir des Carmes, Minnesota Midget, Honey Rock, Sweet Delight, G1 saved seed, Edisto 47, Hale's Best, Ambrosia, and Charentais — all in the same garden. Every single one of these is Cucumis melo. They WILL freely cross-pollinate via bees and other insects.
What this means:
- The melons you eat this year are perfectly fine — cross-pollination does not affect the fruit of the parent plant.
- But seeds saved from any of these melons will carry genetics from whatever pollinated the flower. That could be any of your other 8 melon varieties.
- Plants grown from those seeds will produce unpredictable crosses — not true Noir des Carmes.
This variety is rare and historically significant. Losing genetic purity through accidental crossing would be a real loss. If any of your melons deserve the hand-pollination treatment, it's this one.
For pure Noir des Carmes seed, you need one of:
- Hand-pollination + bagging: Tape female flowers shut the evening before they open. In the morning, hand-pollinate with male flowers from the same variety, then re-bag. Most reliable method.
- Grow only one variety: If you want pure seed from Noir des Carmes, it needs to be the only Cucumis melo in the garden that year.
- Isolation distance: Minimum half mile separation from other Cucumis melo varieties if not bagging flowers.
Bottom line: Unless you hand-pollinate and bag, any seed you save from this melon this year will be a garden cross, not true Noir des Carmes. This one's worth the extra effort.
