That's the tendril. But you need that tendril AND the tendril upstream and downstream to also be dried up for it to be ripe. Even so sometimes the first won't be totally ripe then. But as the season progresses, that is what we go by. Another clue is when you "rap" the melon the sound should ring like a bell, clean and clear. When the rap produces an dull sound it's over or under ripe.
Carol
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