The Watermelon's On!

Watermelon. It's one of the symbols of summertime. I don't know that you can eat watermelon without a smile coming to your face. The juicy, crisp sweetness just evokes everything summer.

When we moved to Idaho, one of the things we were told was that you couldn't grow watermelon in this area. I've never really been super interested in growing watermelon because it seemed like it was always easy enough to find a local stand selling it but when I heard this claim that you can't grow watermelon here, I saw it as a challenge. I love a good challenge.

After talking with the watermelon expert from the area I grew up, we were ready to jump in. We did everything we were instructed on and we found out that...it works! We aren't just growing the small, personalized melons, these are the 20-25 pound seeded, deliciously sweet beauties! The secret is quite simple. Clear plastic.

Now that's worth smiling about!

This is our second year experimenting and things are still pretty successful. We had a rough spring with a lot of hail and freezing temps, but we managed to get 23 melons. Our biggest melon last year reached 24 pounds and I think we may have a contender for that this year. It's still ripening, but I'll report on it once we pick it!

How do you know if a watermelon is ripe? It will tell you! Just opposite of where the stem attaches to the plant, there is a curly-cue. When the melon is growing this will be bright green. As the melon begins to ripen the curly-cue will start to turn brown. When it has dried up completely, the melon should be ready to pick!

This has been such a fun adventure for our whole family. From planting the seeds to checking on the growing melons to finally tasting of their delicious goodness, it is a fun process. Lastly, sharing them with others, that's always the best treat of all!

The secret to a super sweet melon? Hugs.