Five generation and now we can share with the world!

In the Year 1877 pioneers settled the Virgin River Valley in Southern Nevada bringing with them a variety of casaba melon they called a Mush Melon. It had soft white meat and tasted very good. 

This heirloom melon was raised by several families and gained fame with different family names. In 1950 the Bundy family began to grow these melons saving the best seeds from year to year and controlled the cross pollination. In 1960 Bundy bought seeds of a small, yellow, semi-round, slick skinned melon with soft white meat they crossed the heirloom Mush Melon with the new melon to develop the “Bundy Melon” which is a pan shaped, green topped, yellow bottom, slick, tender skinned, melon weighing between 7-15 lbs that is very very tasty. This melon became famous among locals and its fame reached quite far and wide to other areas. Many people would, as it seemed, pilgrimage to the Bundy Farm each year to get these melons. But the shape of the melon along with the tender flesh and rind and open seed cavity made it un-shippable and its shelf life was short. 

Bundy then developed a melon called the Buffet Casaba for the fresh cut market serving the Las Vegas casino buffets and restaurants. This melon was engineered from the Bundy Melon and another old pioneer casaba melon that came to the Virgin River Valley in the 1800’s. A Russian man passing through was overcome by sickness and was laid up for several months in a family home. When he was well enough to be on his way he had no money to pay for his care, but offered some melon seeds to the family. These seeds became known as Rushy’s. Perhaps the man’s name was Rushy or perhaps it’s because he was from Russia, we are not certain, but the melons they grew were delicious. Crossing the two heirloom seeds created the Buffet Casaba melon which is a large dark green melon with a tough rough skin, The meat is a deep, white, sweet meat with a firmer consistency than that of the Bundy Melon. A very good tasting melon weighing about 15 lbs with a good shelf life, But the rough rind was not appealing to retail customers and its large size was more than most retail customers wanted. 

By careful selective cross pollination of the several varieties mentioned and by selecting desirable traits over several years, Bundy has developed the Lushaz Gold Casaba. The Lushaz Gold combines the famous flavor of the Bundy Melon with the durability of of the Rushy to produce a marketable melon that will handle shipping until it reaches the customer, then satisfies their taste buds with a delightfully juicy, smooth, sweet flavor. This melon is quite uniform in size averaging about 8 lbs each. Gold moon like color, smooth rind, deep white sweet flesh, and small tight seed cavity. It cuts nicely for the fresh cut market and for the table of retail customers. This melon is all of Lushaz.