It’s another hot summer day. Time to find some shade and enjoy some cold watermelon— but not just any old watermelon, this one is back from near extinction. About 30 years back, grandfather told me about the sweetest watermelon he ever ate. He said “I remember the first frost fell on it, it was the sweetest watermelon, the juice was like syrup running down my chin. It was the Florida Favorite.”
My granddad grew and tasted many different watermelons in his 92 years. I didn’t have much time for gardening back then but since I retired, I thought about growing some myself. I would just buy some seeds and plant them. I searched the internet and all I found were black and white pictures and paintings from over 100 years ago. I learned the Florida Favorite was very popular before World War I, but its popularity faded with the production of the model T and as other watermelon varieties became available. As more food was transported other varieties were found more suitable for transport. Because the Florida Favorite ripened close to the rind, that made them easy to damage during shipment, and the dark green color made them easy to get sunburned. The poor shipping qualities had nothing to do with the quality of those fresh picked from the home garden and iced down flavor.
Over the last few years I had searched several times, researching old seed catalogs and contacting the companies that own them now. I thought they would never be seen again. Finally I found a story about a guy that grew some. A watermelon enthusiast from Virginia, he had gotten his seeds fr0m a seed bank and had grown several rare varieties. I was unable to contact him to buy some seeds, but I researched the seed bank and almost couldn’t believe it when I learned 10 seeds were available.
I remember well wishing if I could only have three of the seeds, so it was great to get 10. They had been stored for years, maybe decades in an environmentally controlled area. There was no guarantee they would even germinate or that they would grow. I planted seven seeds and four germinated. I kept the other three in case I had total crop failure. After they were growing good, I planted the other three and they all sprouted. I took extra good care of them, keeping weeds down, watering them, fertilizing them and keeping deer out with a six foot high electric fence.
After many weeks of daily care, the first flowers emerged. They are always the male flowers that are not on the end of a little watermelon. After six or so male flowers they finally have a female flower on the end. It needs pollinating the morning it opens up to grow a watermelon. I only planted those 10 seeds, so nothing could cross pollinate with them. I picked a male flower from another plant to hand pollinate it. That way it has genetic diversity and the seeds were a true variety. Just rub the pollen onto the female flower and let nature take its course.
After many more weeks of watering, weeding and fertilizing, picking day finally arrived. I wanted to save as many seeds as I could, I had to get them out before I put it in the refrigerator. I wanted to taste it to see for myself even though it was not cooled down. I found I agreed with my grandfather— it’s an excellent melon and even better when it’s cold.
In my opinion there are several excellent varieties, but I think the sweetest watermelons are picked on the day of perfect ripeness and enjoyed that very day. Of course, weather and fertilization are important to grow the perfect watermelon, but it seems to be even better when it’s iced down.
After all these years I finally realized what made granddad’s watermelon so special. There wasn’t much refrigeration around in 1917 or even electricity. Since watermelon is a hot weather crop there was no way to enjoy a cold slice. The cool night before that frosty morning gave him his first taste of cold watermelon.
I wish I had a picture of that first frosty day my grandfather told me about. I can only imagine him about 10 years old in 1917 wearing worn overalls, a dirt bead necklace, dirty hands and a big smile with that watermelon juice running down his chin.
(After graduating high school in Ware Co., James Steedley moved to Pierce Co. He is retired from railroad track repair and enjoys gardening and spending time with his grandkids.)
