Here is a picture of a Moon & Stars melon that has been cut in half. The picture shows this melon as being quite red but in reality it is more pink. At first, I thought they were not ripe but I now think this is the way they are suppose to look.
The picture on the right shows the melon before it was cut. Note the yellow spots that look like stars/galaxies in the night sky. Also look at the film on the melon's skin, they get this way as they ripen.
The largest melon in picture is a moon & stars variety that weighed 28 lbs. It is accompanied by two melons that might be the Sugar Baby variety. While looking solid green in the picture, they do strips. My understanding of the Sugar Baby variety is that it is solid dark green. Also notice the shine of the skin, looking at seed catalog pictures the melons also look shiny and have a nice color. I found that coming out of the field the melons are dirty and have white film on them. They have to be washed and hand dried to get that shine. If I was selling them, that would be a must because I believe a lot of people buy on not just taste but also appearance.
The melon in the picture to the left has been a real pleasant surprise. I am not sure what its name is but it might be the Ultra Cool variety I bought from Wal-Mart for $0.97. Of course, it was suppose to be seedless according to the package. Looking at the picture you can see 9 black spots that are seeds. Besides that this melon is very red and sweet. I really like its taste. It has the skin pattern of Charleston Gray but shaped more spherically. I believe the 4 that were picked weighed between 10-20 lbs.Last week, we visited New York City. I found it to be an amazing place and I will post about it later. When we toured through China town with its open air produce stands, a number of stacks of large melons could be seen. They were selling some large, elliptical shaped seeded melons. The weight was probably in the 20-30 lb range. It was good to see others appreciate the traditional melons.