It’s watermelon season over at Open Spigot Farm!
In just their second year of growing, Open Spigots’ watermelons are off and running, growing to wonderful and healthy sizes after a disappointing early-season harvest. Grower Brad Bowers, who has about 20 years of watermelon growing experience under his belt, says this harvest has been exceptional! Every melon is packed with flavor and is delicious and sweet.
This is due in part to the weather. You may be saying, “What do you mean? The weather has been hot, dry and awful!” Well, that’s just what these watermelons like! The super dry weather actually helps watermelons taste sweeter! Strange, right?
The melons do, however, need plenty of water in their early stages, which is causing Brad to be slightly concerned about the next harvest. But, with a bevy of rainfall the past couple days, Brad is optimistic this next batch will be just as good as this one!
The variety of melons grown ranges from Georgia rattlesnake, crimson sweet and sugar baby. Georgia rattlesnake watermelons are an older variety of watermelon, developed in the south during the mid-1800’s. These watermelons grow very long and very large! Some at Open Spigot this year have grown to 50 to 60 pounds! They have the classic watermelon look, with the light-green skin, irregular darker stripes and bright crimson fruit inside.
Crimson sweet watermelons are the watermelons you generally think about when you think about watermelons. Pudgy and round, these guys get to about 20 pounds and have the light-green skin with dark stripes and sweet crimson fruit inside. An American classic!
Sugar baby melons are much smaller than a typical watermelon, growing to only about 8 to 10 pounds. Very small and very round, these melons are small enough to easily stash in your fridge. They have a slightly different look, being completely covered in dark-green skin. The insides are just as delicious though!
