Watermelons...Yum

[jinman]

So.... what are everyone's secrets for picking a good watermelon in the store?

I always pick the ones on top of the stack.

I think melon growing is down to a science. They plant and harvest at an exact number of days, culling those that don't meet the size profile. Several plantings are done two weeks apart to ensure a constant supply during the melon season. I'm basing this on a what a fellow told me who grows between 40 and 60 acres of melons each year.

 

[Bird]

So.... what are everyone's secrets for picking a good watermelon in the store?

How many are old enough to remember when anyone selling watermelons would "plug" one for you to see if it was ripe enough? For those who have never seen that, you stick a fairly long knife in the melon 3 or even 4 times in a triangle or square with the angle of the blade such that all three cuts terminate together fairly deep in the melon, so you pull out a triangle shaped plug.

A lot of people used to "thump" melons to see if you got a kind of hollow sound that would indicate it was ripe.

And the more recent method was to rub the melon with your hand and a smooth exterior surface indicated ripe; a slightly rough surface . . skip that one.

Now, in the field, both watermelon and cantaloupe vines have a little curly growth on the vine called a tendril opposite the melon. When that little tendril has turned brown and dried up, that's an indication of ripeness.

But as jinman said, now-a-days the commercial operators have it down to a science, so you're probably just about as well off grabbing the one on top.:laughing:

Personally, I've always had a slight preference for yellow meat watermelons, but they're hard to find. Last summer, we were at a small 2 day a week "farmers market" and one of the farmers had small red meat melons for $3, but he had a larger yellow meat melon for $7. I bought the yellow meat melon, but he didn't have it down to a science. When I got home and cut it, it wasn't ripe at all; completely worthless.

 

[RadarTech]

Good one Radar maybe they are scared of the seeds

"hey bubba, I had a bad visit to the doctor last week, maybe we otta get them seedless watermelons next season"


"sure, maybe there are others that are as scared as you are of dem seeds!"

:laughing:
J

 

[RadarTech]

You do not know what a treat is until you have had a vine ripened Cantaloupe, Crenshaw or Casaba melon. Just thinking about it will give you a case of diabetes.The trick is to start them indoors and grow them in the site of an old compost heap. In northern areas chose verities that have a short growing season, 60-90 days vs. the larger verities at 100-120 days. Cover the bed with black plastic to heat the ground and speed growth.

100-120 days--- I would not want to have to pick those melons..
they would likely seriously require special back support to pick them...

:laughing:


J

 

[dave1949]

So.... what are everyone's secrets for picking a good watermelon in the store?

I am primarily a 'thumper'. I also look at the cut watermelons being sold by the half or quarter to see how they are running. We can easily pay $6 or $7 dollars here for a whole watermelon. It's a major investment

I tend to believe the buyers for chain grocery markets aren't going to pay for less than a full load of melons up from the south. I think that trailer is going to be filled whether every melon on it is just right ripeness-wise or not.

Once I get the watermelon home, I know right away by the sound of the melon 'cracking' as the knife slices into it if is really ripe or not.

For cantaloupe I press on the stem socket with my thumb, or whatever that is called. I want to feel it give a little but not be too mushy.
Dave.

 

[dave1949]

100-120 days--- I would not want to have to pick those melons..
they would likely seriously require special back support to pick them...

:laughing:


J

You should try catching 400 or 500 of them as they are tossed off a truck trailer.
Dave.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I checked prices with a friend of mine this morning...Mediums are returning 5 cents a pound after harvest and binning charges. Larges are 2 cents.:mur::mur:

Just how much are you paying for a 12 pound melon, if the farmer is getting 60 cents? A twenty pounder is bringing only 40 cents...seedless...Don't even ask about the seeded, they are sitting in the field untouched.

 

[dave1949]

I checked prices with a friend of mine this morning...Mediums are returning 5 cents a pound after harvest and binning charges. Larges are 2 cents.:mur::mur:

Just how much are you paying for a 12 pound melon, if the farmer is getting 60 cents? A twenty pounder is bringing only 40 cents...seedless...Don't even ask about the seeded, they are sitting in the field untouched.

As usual, somebody besides the grower is doing well. The current price here for a dark green soccer ball size melon is $6.99. Don't recall it's origin. We usually get lots of the big, longer melons in here just before July 4th. They stayed expensive all last summer here. Don't recall them ever going below $6 and as high as $8 or $9.
Dave.

 

[RadarTech]

You should try catching 400 or 500 of them as they are tossed off a truck trailer.
Dave.

tell ya what---

you tell me where and I will break a real sweat watching!!!! :laughing::laughing:


J

 

[dave1949]

tell ya what---

you tell me where and I will break a real sweat watching!!!! :laughing::laughing:


J

1965, Bowling Green, Ohio at the Kroger store. Unless you have a time machine (which I have no real interest in using ), we are out of luck on that.

The watermelons were loaded by hand on grain hauling-type semi-trailers, no top, wooden sides. The drivers came up north from the South, talked funny too. Probably pretty much non-stop so the melons wouldn't cook in the sun. They would stop at several stores and unload. The drivers were responsible for unloading and would hire us for about $20 plus a couple melons to catch them as he tossed them down. All we had to do was keep a good count, stack them in a bin - and not drop the melons. It was a good deal since I was making $1.65/hr bagging groceries the rest of the day
Dave.

 

[RadarTech]

1965, Bowling Green, Ohio at the Kroger store. Unless you have a time machine (which I have no real interest in using ), we are out of luck on that.

The watermelons were loaded by hand on grain hauling-type semi-trailers, no top, wooden sides. The drivers came up north from the South, talked funny too. Probably pretty much non-stop so the melons wouldn't cook in the sun. They would stop at several stores and unload. The drivers were responsible for unloading and would hire us for about $20 plus a couple melons to catch them as he tossed them down. All we had to do was keep a good count, stack them in a bin - and not drop the melons. It was a good deal since I was making $1.65/hr bagging groceries the rest of the day
Dave.

oh sure tell the next to youngest guy around how it was back before I was born.....


I ran the inflation calculator on that $1.65 and that is $11.10 now..
BOY you were kinda well paid....:thumbsup:

J

 

[dave1949]

oh sure tell the next to youngest guy around how it was back before I was born.....


I ran the inflation calculator on that $1.65 and that is $11.10 now..
BOY you were kinda well paid....:thumbsup:

J

Remember, that was before WalMart and China made living so cheap I'm sure Bird and some of the others remember prices from earlier times. :thumbsup:

I didn't realize you were so young. You seemed smarter than that
Dave.

 

[Bird]

The current price here for a dark green soccer ball size melon is $6.99.

Ouch, I think they're $3.48 here at Walmart.

 

[RadarTech]

Remember, that was before WalMart and China made living so cheap I'm sure Bird and some of the others remember prices from earlier times. :thumbsup:

I didn't realize you were so young. You seemed smarter than that
Dave.

I am wise for my young age in my late 30s'....

"big eared goss" and that was what everyone called him....
once told me, speak but listen and you will learn more than your years..

seems this padiwan learner did well.... :thumbsup:

J

 

[Bird]

You should try catching 400 or 500 of them as they are tossed off a truck trailer.

That comment reminds me of the days in the mid-50s when I'd go to the Rush Springs, OK, Watermelon Festival in August. They'd have an 18-wheeler, enclosed trailer, with the back doors open and tables set in a "U" shape around the back end of the truck. In the truck would be watermelons and ice. A couple of guys in the truck would toss melons to ones on the ground who would set them on the tables and another guy would be slicing (chopping) them with a machete. All the free melon you could eat, and they'd have both red and yellow meat melons.

 

[dave1949]

That comment reminds me of the days in the mid-50s when I'd go to the Rush Springs, OK, Watermelon Festival in August. They'd have an 18-wheeler, enclosed trailer, with the back doors open and tables set in a "U" shape around the back end of the truck. In the truck would be watermelons and ice. A couple of guys in the truck would toss melons to ones on the ground who would set them on the tables and another guy would be slicing (chopping) them with a machete. All the free melon you could eat, and they'd have both red and yellow meat melons.

That's neat Bird, they've been having a free watermelon feed since 1948. Pretty rare when you think about it.
Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Ouch, I think they're $3.48 here at Walmart.

Haven't checked Walmart here, they are probably less than where I usually shop. I've found you have to watch, some things are less at Walmart and some are more. A watermelon would be the kind of item they would price low here probably. Walmart is another 8 miles to get to and back, so I go there when I know they have some things I need and can't get other places in town.
Dave.

 

[Transit]

100-120 days--- I would not want to have to pick those melons..
they would likely seriously require special back support to pick them...

:laughing:


J

Yep, I have picked Crenshaw's and Casaba's at 12 to 18 pounds each, about 5 per vine, most come in at 8-10. So much juice that I have to eat them over the kitchen sink and so sweet they make your teeth hurt. I´ve never found one ripe from the market and at $6-8 each. My problem has been mildew at the end of the season it has rained too much.

 

[charlz]

For cantaloupe I press on the stem socket with my thumb, or whatever that is called. I want to feel it give a little but not be too mushy.

Yep, I use that technique as well.... and for Pineapple the inner leaves should pull out easily. Learned that in either Hawaii or Tahiti, don't remember which.

 

[jinman]

There are lots of folks around my area who grow melons. Every year, we see 5th wheel trailer loads of melons in those big 3' x 4' cardboard boxes. They pick, clean, and load the melons into the boxes at the grower's location and then haul them to the stores where all they have to do is unload the boxes full of melons with a forklift. The local Walmart will have about 4 of those boxes outside and another two inside the store with melons selling for around $4-$5 each.

In the old days, we used to see big truckloads of melons in open trailers that were sometimes covered in tarps and sometimes not. I remember seeing one of those trailer loads in Arkansas one year when we were on a family trip. We were in a terrible hail storm and pulled under a bridge to get away from the hail. A big truck load of melons pulled in also and the top layer of melons were pretty much mush. I remember my dad quipped that those melons didn't need to be plugged. They were plugged by the hail.

A few years ago for my 4th of July celebration, I bought melons at Sam's Club. Right before the 4th, I decided I'd better check the melons by slicing them in half to see if they were ripe. I'm sure glad I did that because all the melons were very overripe and mushy in the heart. They must have been sitting in that Sam's store for more than a month and had gone bad. A quick trip to our local Walmart saved the day because the replacement melons I bought were perfect. You just never know. . . .