‘Bettieħ Tax-Xitwa Safra’ Melon (“Maltese Yellow Winter”)

Cucumis melo subsp. melo

Origin: Malta

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~12

Germination tested 12/2024: 92%

Life cycle: Annual

EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman was given seeds for this special melon in Malta by Emanuela de Giorgio, who maintains one of the Mediterranean island nation’s only publicly accessible seed banks in a cabinet at her small business. Emanuela runs an adorable farm market/thrift store/community center called The Veg Box @ The Farmoury, next to the famed Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park located in the northeast corner of the main island of Malta. If you’re ever in Malta, it’s well worth a visit!

The name means “Yellow [safra] Melon [bettieħ] of Winter [tax-xitwa]”, with the letter “x” pronounced more like the “sh”-sound in English, and the uniquely Maltese “ħ” pronounced like the guttural “ch”-sound in Hebrew words “challah” or “chanukah.” Like Hebrew, Maltese is a Semitic language, a legacy of over two centuries years of Arabic rule a thousand years ago (from 870 CE to 1091 CE).

The fruits of this melon are yellow-skinned when ripe, with a high degree of rough raised netting on the surface, much like the melons we call cantaloupes. The sweet flesh is green and aromatic, especially when harvested at just the right time. Left too long, as with many heirloom melons, the flesh can get mealy. Fruits are roughly in the one-to-two pound range, but could get larger under optimal conditions. As these are adapted to an extremely arid climate, they can thrive with very little irrigation. It’s likely too much water will result in melons with poor flavor (reduced watering tends to concentrate the sugars in the fruit). The plants are relatively pest-resistant and can produce over a long season. They will sprawl in all directions and require no trellis.

We’re very excited to be offering this cherished Maltese heirloom in the US for the first time.

GROWING TIPS: Grow as any other melon. Direct sow in mounds or rows after all danger of frost has passed. Space plants around a foot apart.