However, one of my purchased seeds that I wanted to try was a Russian variety "Collective Farm Woman".

What are my chances of growing both these melons & actually getting to try fruit true to form?

With rare exception (such as with corn), new traits do not appear until the next generation, because the genetic changes are in the seed. So if you plant both Collective Farm Woman (which, btw, is a very good melon) and Golden Jenny they will both grow fruit the first year that is true to type (presuming the seed is pure and there are no mutations).

However, if you save seed from both, and have not taken steps to isolate them, then there's a good chance that they will cross, and next year you'll get something totally different.

I thnk what you may be getting at is if there's X pollination between the two in the same season will the fruits of both be true to type in that same season and the answer is yes.

C ross pollination in a given season does not affect the fr uits of that season. Only if you were to save seeds from X pollinated fruit s and plant them the next season would you see differences, as Gardenlad has explained above.

Carolyn

I see what both of you mean & it makes sense. I'm not planning on saving the seeds from these (except to feed to my cockatoo, who loves them - lol); just want to enjoy them as they're supposed to be.

Again, thanks for explaining it to an heirloom newbie!