Spokane Valley was once famous for its cantaloupes.
In 1995’s The Spokane Valley: A History of the Growing Years, Florence Boutwell writes that Hearts of Gold cantaloupe melons became one of the area’s predominant crops around 1925, after insects and disease destroyed local orchards.
By the late 1970s, the prevalence of this heirloom variety, known for its deep-orange, aromatic, sweet, thick, and juicy flesh, had diminished in the region.
But an experimental, volunteer-run community garden in a Liberty Lake development—the 3-acre River District Farm—is bringing them back, growing Hearts of Gold and selling them at its seasonal stand.
The cantaloupe’s memory has lingered through the years, including in the namesake Hearts of Gold parade at Spokane Valley’s annual fall festival.
Hearts of Gold cantaloupe cut open (Courtesy Urban Farmer)
Read more about Hearts of Gold
Hearts of Gold return to Spokane Valley (Inlander, September 19, 2024)
Melon memories (Spokesman-Review, August 14, 2004)