Are You Sick and Tired Of Picking A Bad Watermelon?

Summer is not the same without a big slice of juicy watermelon to cool you down. But when you pick a bad watermelon, you are left with a disappointing 10 pound bitter mess to throw out.

I picked a few bad ones last year, and after cutting them open and tasting their bitter rubbery taste, I threw them out. It wasn't worth the time and effort to cart the sticky messes back to the store to return them on a roasting hot day. I vowed that this year would be different with me and watermelons.

I asked the man stocking produce at the farm market this spring how to pick a watermelon, and he told me what I was doing wrong. I was buying the all green watermelons. The best type to buy are the ones with the yellow splotches on them. And, even better are the ones with the dry spidery lines over the yellow swatches. The yellow swatch is an indication that the watermelon had time to sit on the ground after being picked to ripen. The lines mean it had extra time, so will be juicy!

Since finding the secret, I haven't picked a bad one. I have also heard to buy a watermelon that feels heavy for its' size, and to knock it and make sure your fingers bounce off of it, and to pick one with a dull sheen to it. The shiny ones aren't ripe.

Hope this helps so you can bite into a nice cool juicy piece in the heat!

Happy Summer!

photos - Pixabay and Giphy