For several years, Alysia has wondered “when is the right time to pick a cantaloupe off the vine?” She sniffed, she thunked, but lots of time, the cantaloupe was not fully ripe. This year someone told her that the perfect time was when the melon’s connection to the vine broke on its own. So we tried that. However, we discovered, much to our horror, that ants started tunneling into our cantaloupe before then. With great sorrow we plucked the ant-infested cantaloupe off the vine, washed it off and cut it open to discover how much damage had been done. We found a tiny excavation right below where the vine attaches. The rest of the melon was intact. When we tasted it, it was fully ripe. It was heavenly! So now we wait for the ants to tell us when the melon is ripe. They hover around it, sniffing it much more diligently and sensitively than we ever could. A tiny bit of melon is a good trade for such precise information. (It’s interesting to speculate whether the cantaloupe is too tough for the ants to chew into before then – or does it just not taste or smell right?)
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