My Dad's "Garden "

I received this photo this morning from my dad. This is what he is growing on the "back 40." I was amazed at how big it is, so I asked how his garden was. He has 4 acres of nothing but watermelon. I sure am glad I am not there as I would be volunteered to work it.

Fun to eat. Not fun to pick. That's a nice melon. Can't inagine 4 acres of those!

Growing up my dad had a pumpkin/squash "farm" usually about 4-8 acres of squash and an acre or two of pumpkins, while not quite as big as those melons (lol) I can imagine a lot of how terrible it'd be to try to pick them all, dealing with the darn vines is half the problem. . .

We used to grow melons that big when I was a kid, but we never had acres of plants. We probably had a patch the size of a small house and we still had too many for my family, extended family and neighbors. I remember playing in the woods, only to come out, snag a watermelon and haul it off to my 'fort' in the woods as lunch. Now you pay $6 for one half that size at the store that isn't nearly as ripe. I can't seem to find the street-side sellers anymore either. Usually someone's grandpa always found a corner in the country to sell melons and tomatoes out of his truck...usually an early 80's Ford for some reason.
...those were the days.

I must be hungry and it is probably time to eat anyway as that picture of that watermelon is making my stomach growl!

I wonder how far that could be shot in my cannon? I would eat the other one.

In reading this thread, I have realized that I have had a lot of "home grown" produce. But not watermelon. I can't even imagine how good that must be. It looks awesome.

BubblesTGB said:

In reading this thread, I have realized that I have had a lot of "home grown" produce. But not watermelon. I can't even imagine how good that must be. It looks awesome.

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I purchased a fresh watermelon, sold from the back of a pick up truck, at a gas station in Wilmington, NC. It was quite tasty.

August West said:

I purchased a fresh watermelon, sold from the back of a pick up truck, at a gas station in Wilmington, NC. It was quite tasty.

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That's because they gave it a healthy shot of moonshine.

I think he might be exaggerating a bit he says this thing weighs 40lbs. He says there is about 15 or so that size, the rest are about 15lbs.

They grow 'em that big in Washington Parish. I notice you're originally from Mississippi. If your dad is near that part of Louisiana, watermelons of that size don't surprise me at all. I see 'em all the time being sold out of the backs of trucks. Best watermelons a man can eat come from pickup trucks.

jzuzphreek said:

They grow 'em that big in Washington Parish. I notice you're originally from Mississippi. If your dad is near that part of Louisiana, watermelons of that size don't surprise me at all. I see 'em all the time being sold out of the backs of trucks. Best watermelons a man can eat come from pickup trucks.

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My parents live 8 miles from the Delta. Everything grows there.

*Terence* said:

My parents live 8 miles from the Delta. Everything grows there.

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Not blackberries! lol Well you said they do, just in small patches...Right? Not like the state proclaimed nuisance weed they are here in WA...

*Terence* said:

I received this photo this morning from my dad. This is what he is growing on the "back 40." I was amazed at how big it is, so I asked how his garden was. He has 4 acres of nothing but watermelon. I sure am glad I am not there as I would be volunteered to work it.

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Terence:
Is that watermelon 'seedless'?

"I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me". Robert Brault

This is not a joke:
An agricultural scientist for Texas A & M taught me how to choose the sweetest melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon).
I have been using his method for years.
It works.
always choose the heavier/heaviest melon from those which are about the same size because sugar weighs more than water.
Simple but has always worked.