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By Bobbie Whitehead
Hundreds of young watermelon plants cover a Murfreesboro, N.C., field with countless vines stretching across the rows.
In a month or two, the plants with their hairy shoots will bear large watermelons, some weighing more than 25 pounds, for shipment to East Coast markets as well as markets in Chicago and Houston.
“It’s our busy time of year,” said Michael Bunch of Murfreesboro Farms Inc., a commercial watermelon grower and broker. “We’re awfully dry right now, and melons are something you don’t like to have to irrigate.
Hundreds of young watermelon plants cover a Murfreesboro, N.C., field with countless vines stretching across the rows.
In a month or two, the plants with their hairy shoots will bear large watermelons, some weighing more than 25 pounds, for shipment to East Coast markets as well as markets in Chicago and Houston.
“It’s our busy time of year,” said Michael Bunch of Murfreesboro Farms Inc., a commercial watermelon grower and broker. “We’re awfully dry right now, and melons are something you don’t like to have to irrigate.
Young watermelon plants, left, at a Murfreesboro Farms Inc. field in North Carolina sprout shoots and thrive in spite of dry conditions. Above right, watermelons in a Virginia field.
Dry but sweet, watermelon season opens; fests to begin
“The weather has been the exact opposite of what it should be. If we get some rain, we’re going to have a decent crop. Hopefully, we will. It’s too early to know.”
But the dryer the weather, the sweeter the watermelon, he said.
The majority of North Carolina watermelon harvests begin around the first of July. Some watermelon growers stagger their planting to keep the harvests continuing for several months.
Commercial growers in the area plant different varieties, and 90 percent of what Bunch ships are the seedless type. Although July is the peak season for North Carolina watermelons, growers there continue to harvest watermelons through September. In August, Virginia growers experience their peak season but harvests occur a month earlier in some regions with a number of growers selling watermelons at farmers markets and produce stands.
North Carolina watermelon growers planted 7,000 acres of the fruit in 2009, and the state ranks eighth among U.S. watermelon producers, according to Nick Augostini, marketing specialist with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“Watermelons are a great summer tradition for many families,” said N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler in a press release. “The season is off to a good start and shoppers should find plenty of North Carolina watermelons at farmers markets, roadside stands and grocery stores.”
Festivities
To celebrate the season, several cities in North Carolina hold watermelon festivals, and N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue declared July “Watermelon Month.” The state farmers markets, too, promote the season with special watermelon days.
For the next couple of weeks, folks in Murfreesboro, N.C., a city nestled in the northeastern part of the state a few miles from the Virginia border, prepare for a four-day festival, July 28-31, and will celebrate the annual event’s 25th anniversary this year.
“The festival is a lot of work, and to do this, we have so many volunteers involved,” said Carol Lassiter, Murfreesboro Historical Association tour director. “We have volunteers cutting watermelons at the festival throughout the whole event. The entire community gets together to make this happen, and to have done this for 25 years with a lot of the same people, we’re very proud.”
Starting at 8 p.m. each night of the festival, Murfreesboro’s historic district becomes an entertainment center with bands performing and dancing in the street. Visitors to the festival will find free watermelon slices, donated by Murfreesboro Farms Inc., throughout the event.
Folks attending can find just about any type of Southern culinary specialty for sale. The festival also features a parade, Saturday, July 31, at 10 a.m., a Little Miss Watermelon Princess contest with the past 24 princesses joining this year’s celebration, Little Miss and Little Mr. Farmer contests, a seed spitting contest and more.
For more information about the North Carolina Watermelon Festival in Murfreesboro, visit its web site, http://www.murfreesboronc.org/watermelon.htm. Other N.C. watermelon festivals include ones in Fair Bluff, July 18, 23-24, http://www.ncwatermelonfestival.com/scheduleofevents.htm, and the 2010 Winterville Watermelon Festival, Aug. 26-28, http://www.watermelonfest.com/index.html.
Watermelon Days at the state farmers markets will be held July 16 at the Western N.C. Farmers Market in Asheville, Aug. 5 at the Raleigh Farmers Market and Aug. 6 at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in Colfax. Each event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free.
Nutrition
Consumers can find more than 1,200 varieties of watermelons, first harvested about 5,000 years ago in Egypt. A source of Vitamins A, B6 and C, watermelon also leads the list of fruits and vegetables high in lycopene, an antioxidant, according to the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
Studies have shown that consumption of foods high in lycopene, the compound that gives watermelons the pinkish to red color inside, may reduce heart disease and cancer.
But the dryer the weather, the sweeter the watermelon, he said.
The majority of North Carolina watermelon harvests begin around the first of July. Some watermelon growers stagger their planting to keep the harvests continuing for several months.
Commercial growers in the area plant different varieties, and 90 percent of what Bunch ships are the seedless type. Although July is the peak season for North Carolina watermelons, growers there continue to harvest watermelons through September. In August, Virginia growers experience their peak season but harvests occur a month earlier in some regions with a number of growers selling watermelons at farmers markets and produce stands.
North Carolina watermelon growers planted 7,000 acres of the fruit in 2009, and the state ranks eighth among U.S. watermelon producers, according to Nick Augostini, marketing specialist with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“Watermelons are a great summer tradition for many families,” said N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler in a press release. “The season is off to a good start and shoppers should find plenty of North Carolina watermelons at farmers markets, roadside stands and grocery stores.”
Festivities
To celebrate the season, several cities in North Carolina hold watermelon festivals, and N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue declared July “Watermelon Month.” The state farmers markets, too, promote the season with special watermelon days.
For the next couple of weeks, folks in Murfreesboro, N.C., a city nestled in the northeastern part of the state a few miles from the Virginia border, prepare for a four-day festival, July 28-31, and will celebrate the annual event’s 25th anniversary this year.
“The festival is a lot of work, and to do this, we have so many volunteers involved,” said Carol Lassiter, Murfreesboro Historical Association tour director. “We have volunteers cutting watermelons at the festival throughout the whole event. The entire community gets together to make this happen, and to have done this for 25 years with a lot of the same people, we’re very proud.”
Starting at 8 p.m. each night of the festival, Murfreesboro’s historic district becomes an entertainment center with bands performing and dancing in the street. Visitors to the festival will find free watermelon slices, donated by Murfreesboro Farms Inc., throughout the event.
Folks attending can find just about any type of Southern culinary specialty for sale. The festival also features a parade, Saturday, July 31, at 10 a.m., a Little Miss Watermelon Princess contest with the past 24 princesses joining this year’s celebration, Little Miss and Little Mr. Farmer contests, a seed spitting contest and more.
For more information about the North Carolina Watermelon Festival in Murfreesboro, visit its web site, http://www.murfreesboronc.org/watermelon.htm. Other N.C. watermelon festivals include ones in Fair Bluff, July 18, 23-24, http://www.ncwatermelonfestival.com/scheduleofevents.htm, and the 2010 Winterville Watermelon Festival, Aug. 26-28, http://www.watermelonfest.com/index.html.
Watermelon Days at the state farmers markets will be held July 16 at the Western N.C. Farmers Market in Asheville, Aug. 5 at the Raleigh Farmers Market and Aug. 6 at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in Colfax. Each event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free.
Nutrition
Consumers can find more than 1,200 varieties of watermelons, first harvested about 5,000 years ago in Egypt. A source of Vitamins A, B6 and C, watermelon also leads the list of fruits and vegetables high in lycopene, an antioxidant, according to the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
Studies have shown that consumption of foods high in lycopene, the compound that gives watermelons the pinkish to red color inside, may reduce heart disease and cancer.
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