Monday, August 18, 2008

Watermelon fresh from the garden

Remember a while back I posted about the watermelon we planted from the little cups you get at Walmart? Well we have been trying to decide when they were ready to be picked. We didn't want to pick them before they were ripe.


So we asked around how do you know when they are ripe? We got a couple of different answers. Someone said to look for the place where the vine and watermelon meet. That person said that place would be dryed up. Someone else said to pick them when the underside that rests on the ground turns yellow. Then my cousin said it's ripe when the curly tendril on the vine dies. So we picked this one, just to try.

It wasn't dead where the vine meets the melon, and wasn't quite yellow, yellow on the underside. But, the tendril was drying up, so we decided to try it. This is what it looked like on the inside.

My hubby said it didn't quite taste done to him, but I liked it just fine. So did the little one.

Anyone else have any advice on how to know when the watermelons are ripe?

5 comments:

Rockin' Mama said...

WOW! That is a huge watermelon! I honestly have no idea...when I go to the store to buy fruit/veggies I always ask the people working there..

: )

The Happy Housewife said...

I had this same problem last year when we grew a few watermelon. I don't think we ever figured out exactly how to pick it perfectly! I
hope someone can give you some advice.
Toni
http://thehappyhousewife.com

Carolina Mama said...

Great job! I have never done that. Looks like ya'll did great!

Rachelle said...

Nancy my FIL grows them and he always checks the end. He said when the middle of the end is soft it's ready. You know that circle on the end of it, just feel that!! He always has good watermelon. I have yet to try and grow some.
Blessings-
Rachelle
p.s.- it looked yummy!!

Anonymous said...

I don't know for sure if telling when a watermelon is ripe is the same as when a musk melon is ripe. But, I would think that a melon is a melon.

Anyway, we grew musk melon this year on a trellis. I put netting around the first melon when it got large because I was afraid it would fall off and smash. I also wasn't sure how to tell if they were ripe. But, today I noticed that the melon had fallen off and the netting had caught it. I brought it inside and it is perfectly ripe. Maybe melons are ripe when they fall off the vine?