Cantaloupes are easy to grow. They just need space and a reasonably fertile soil. As for "heirlooms" ther are a few commercial old timers that have hung around. They can't compete with the newer cultivars in either taste or productivity for me, but they can be adequate under good conditions. If you want size (3-5 lbs) Edisto 1956, Hearts of Gold, Honey Rock 1955, Iroquois 1944, ... The Rocky Ford melons are about as good in flavor as will be found in the older OP's but is a small melon.

Farmerdilla, thank you very much for this information. I really apprecaite your assistance.

There are dizzying array of muskmelons and true 'cantaloupes' you can grow....I wish I could grow a lot of them but I'm sure my dad would rather I not dig up our lawn to turn it into a melon patch.

This year I'm trying 'Hale's Best', 'Banana' and the true cantaloupe and french heirloom 'Charentais', you might want to look into those for novelty's sake. There are actually two distinctions when it comes to melons, what we call cantaloupes with the netting on the outside, the ones you want, are actually muskmelons. True cantaloupes are often not seen here for some reason, but are popular in Europe. They're skin is really hard on the outside and often wonderfully perfumed.

If you really want to get into it, I'd recommend you buy
'Melons for the Passionate Grower' by Amy Goldman, you can get it rather cheaply used on Amazon. The whole book makes you want to grow all of them.

Baker Creek seeds has a rather extensive melon collection, as does Seed Savers Exchange, Sand Hill Preservation Center among other companies. You can get some seeds rather cheaply on ebay as well, but I guess it could be a gamble there sometimes.

So yeah, maybe look into 'Hales Best', 'Emerald Gem' among a few others. Taste, with the right conditions can be heavenly with a few varieties, but I'm going to assume it's going to be trial and error to find the right ones!

Best of luck, I'm a beginner in this too, let's cross our fingers!

Max

HI Max - thanks so much for this information. I have like 10 different types to try, Ambrosia, Charentais, and a bunch of others I don't remember the names of.