I Am So Afraid: Watermelon Picking

pickupguy07 · Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:07 pm

this being my first year.. I wasn't really sure what was best for my area. Just took what my local Farm & Garden suggested.
So fill me in on this kind you mentioned... Do they have any with yellow meat. Seems I have always found yellow meat to be sweeter..??

stella1751 · Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:41 pm

The Carolina Cross is the giant of watermelons. It will go 200 pounds. If you grow one, you grow it for a village, not a family

pickupguy07 · Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:05 pm

Shame there's not any way (I know of) to preserve all that good stuff inside

stella1751 · Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:23 pm

I think people who grow them must give them away or have a huge party. You know, I think you can freeze watermelon, but I'm not certain. However, to grow one of those monsters, you have to practice on the little ones. You don't want to pick this one at the wrong time. If it wasn't ripe, you would kick yourself all the way to North Carolina. If it was too ripe and blew up in your garden, your neighbors would be picking seeds out of their hair

TheWaterbug · Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:20 pm

Okay, now it's my turn for Watermelon Roulette!

Here's my Moon and Stars melon:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsMelon_web.jpg[/img]

The tendril is brown, but that could be because of the damage near the base:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsTendril_web.jpg[/img]

Note that actual base of the tendril is still green.

The underside is yellow:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsUnderside_web.jpg[/img]

So, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Garden Jury, what say you? Pick or Patience?

I also have two other melons elsewhere at about the same stage, or maybe a week younger.

Tilde · Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:51 pm

No idea, but on the preservation thread, I recall pickled watermelon and watermelon wine.

!potatoes! · Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:56 pm

it dehydrates into a pretty awesome sticky candy, too.

stella1751 · Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:34 am

I've been picking one watermelon a week since I started this thread, and I still haven't gotten a ripe one. They are, however, becoming a darker pink as I go along

I found a website that includes in its list of ways to tell that the watermelon is ready to pick that it will separate easily from its stem when it's ready. I tried that on the last two and, with sufficient twisting and tearing, found the watermelon very easy to pull from the vine.

I have four watermelons left. Two are big; two aren't worth the effort of picking. The vines are half dead from the hard freeze we had September 22, but they're hanging in there. In five days, a lengthy cold spell is moving in, and I will not bother covering that bed. I did better with them this year than I did last year. Next year, I will have success. I'm not ready for the big ones yet. The year they begin ripening in August, well, then I will know I have done it right.

My neighbor is handy with wood. I am giving him enough supplies to build one cold frame for each of us. Next year, I will start mine under a cold frame. Ha! One day I will grow a ripe watermelon in Wyoming

bangstrom · Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:54 am

Sugar Baby's tend to either be too green to pick or they split open. I don't sell melons so I like to wait for Sugar Baby's to split before I pick them. Yes, sometimes they explode.

TheWaterbug · Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:06 am

I chickened out and flew to Chicago for the week.

I will resume my indecision when I return on Saturday!

TheWaterbug · Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:00 pm

I picked it!!!!!
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsPickedTop_web.jpg[/img]

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsPickedBottom_web.jpg[/img]

I barely tapped it with my knife, and it split right open.

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/MoonAndStarsPicked_web.jpg[/img]

It's pretty good, but not great. Probably a 7 out of 10. It's crisp, and not mealy, but it's not as sweet as I would like.

Based on the splitting behavior I'm not sure I'd want to leave it out any longer than I did. I have three more out in the field.

stella1751 · Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:44 am

TheWaterbug wrote: I barely tapped it with my knife, and it split right open.

It's pretty good, but not great. Probably a 7 out of 10. It's crisp, and not mealy, but it's not as sweet as I would like.

Beautiful watermelon, Waterbug! I did the same thing with mine. A long cold spell was moving in, so I picked everything. I began cutting the biggest one, just to see what it was like, and the knife was only in about an inch when the melon split right open, just like yours.

I ran it over to my neighbor. She's from Arkansas and seriously likes watermelon and was a godsend to me when I needed help last summer, so I have it to her. Later, I asked her how it was. I asked, "So, was it as good as the ones in North Carolina?" She looked blank. I asked, "Georgia?" She looked confused. I said, "Arkansas?" That got her attention. All those Southeastern states are alike to me, I guess.

She said it was good but, like yours, not as sweet as she liked.

There were three really tiny ones. I sliced each one open, just in case, and the one that weighed about a pound, maybe less, was lovely. I ran that one over to my other neighbor, who is building me a cold frame for next year.

One left. I will eat this one.