17 pounder

It seems that the fruits of Mom’s garden are all or nothing. Blueberry bushes just won’t grow. Last year the tomato plants were completely overflowing; this year we got about 5. The zucchini is always plentiful but the corn wouldn’t even develop a full ear.

This summer Mom planted a watermelon, and we watched for weeks as it grew bigger and rounder, wondering how we’d know the right time to pick. A few times we researched “signs of a ripe watermelon,” and I stood in the garden listing them off the ipad for her to check. But it never seemed like the right time.

So I had about 3 days left before driving back south for school, and we decided to cave in and harvest this giant green monster. The supposed signs of ripeness still weren’t there but we were tired of waiting. It would either be absolutely perfect or entirely unripe……

…We weighed it, sliced through 17 pounds of melon… and what do ya know, it was perfect.

Perfect as in could not have been better and we must be watermelon harvest experts. That perfect. Vibrant red from the core to the rind, firm and JUICY as melon can be.

It certainly goes along with the all-or-nothing, luck or no luck thing we have going in the garden, but this time we were lucky, and I am grateful. It was juicy blissful deliciousness. And I surely savored those last 3 days at home.

–mich