Best watermelon in eons!

[Jenise]

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Bright yellow skin, red flesh, seeds, foot-ball sized; a variety called a 'Diana' according to the guy who grew and sold it to me (in British Columbia). So perfectly ripe that it practically split open all by itself when I stuck the knife in.

I had a great one this weekend as well. Tasted like pure fresh fragrant watermelon essence.

But I don't think I'll ever love watermelon as much as other melons. They're not as delicious and the quality is too difficult to predict so you get too many duds.

Looks gorgeous but there's truth to what Rahsaan says.

I had a very nice watermelon last month. It was a regular watermelon I picked up at the Italian deli around the corner. Shortly before buying it, some posted on FaceBook about selecting watermelons. The trick was to select ones where the banding between the green and yellow is distinct and not mottled or shading. I used that to select the watermelon. I don't know if the selection process is valid, but was very pleased with the result.

[Jenise]

Looks gorgeous but there's truth to what Rahsaan says.

I agree. There can be losers, and you can't smell their ripeness the way you can other melons.

But when a watermelon is good like this stupendous yellow one was, it's one of the best flavors in the world. When I was in the hospital a few months ago, watermelon was my favorite food--never frozen nor canned, always fresh and always cold, and though yeah some days it wasn't as good as other days, even the lesser ones felt like salvation in my mouth.

[Jenise]

I had a very nice watermelon last month. It was a regular watermelon I picked up at the Italian deli around the corner. Shortly before buying it, some posted on FaceBook about selecting watermelons. The trick was to select ones where the banding between the green and yellow is distinct and not mottled or shading. I used that to select the watermelon. I don't know if the selection process is valid, but was very pleased with the result.

Hmmm...define mottled. Would have to think that's pretty arbitrary, and would also guess distinctness would be somewhat particular to variety or even growing conditions (heat, etc). The watermelons we buy that look the same are probably not all the same variety. Maybe it's a principal that can be used to know when to pick a ripe watermelon off the vine--most you see in a store would be the same. What's not the same though is how they sound. Some just 'thunk' where other's practically vibrate when spanked. I like the vibrators. Er, so to speak.

Would have to think that's pretty arbitrary, and would also guess distinctness would be somewhat particular to variety. The watermelons we buy that look the same are probably not all the same variety. Maybe it's a principal that can be used to know when to pick a ripe watermelon off the vine--most you see in a store would be the same. What's not the same though is how they sound. Some just 'thunk' where other's practically vibrate when spanked. I like the vibrators. Er, so to speak.

The thunk/thumping method or lifting to sense density gives me some sense of what's inside in terms of being too filled with water and therefore likely to be too soft and mushy. But the appearance would almost definitely have to depend on variety. (Plenty don't even have banding)

Yesterday at the market one of the farmers told me their key for picking in fields was that when the flower on the stem stops growing, the sugar has stopped growing/peaked. But, he also told me that he was not the best at picking and relied on one farm hand in particular who has a knack for these things.

[Jenise]

The thunk/thumping method or lifting to sense density gives me some sense of what's inside in terms of being too filled with water and therefore likely to be too soft and mushy. But the appearance would almost definitely have to depend on variety. (Plenty don't even have banding)

Yesterday at the market one of the farmers told me their key for picking in fields was that when the flower on the stem stops growing, the sugar has stopped growing/peaked. But, he also told me that he was not the best at picking and relied on one farm hand in particular who has a knack for these things.

Soft and mushy is likely the result of just having been around too long. Watermelons don't ripen on your counter like most other melons do, they have to be picked at perfect ripeness.

But yes, the farmer was right. There's a tendril that shrivels up, and that's what they look for. The other visual is the color of the 'field spot', as they call it. When unripe, it's white but when the melon is good and ripe, it's the color of butter. I just checked several online sources and all were in agreement on these facts--no mention of banding.

Also, they backed up the tapping method. A flat, dull sound is underripe; what you want to hear is something that kind of echoes back like a hollow drum.