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Supplements, by Wayne Pickering,

This year, I was at a beach party of a good friend of mine who has a home on the ocean so there was lots to do and lots of friends to see and catch up with, but I noticed that everywhere I went there was a watermelon. And everyone was in the woods about how to pick one so I thought what a great article to write this week. How to pick a Watermelon so that every time you pick one, you get a good one each and every time. Wouldn't that be great? Everyone at the party said they were going to read this so here goes and let me know how you pan out with this.

1st of all, it takes all 5 of your senses to insure you a good one. Now what do I mean by that? Use your sense of smell, taste, hearing, touch and sight. First Look at it to see if it has good form…no blemishes on it, no dents, no oblong look, etc. Then turn the melon over and see if it has a creamy color where it was laying on the ground while growing. Be sure to see that the stem is dry…all very good signs so far.

Now look to see if the opposite of the stem end of the melon where the bottom all connects if the lines all connect there and if it is in the center of the melon and not off to the side a bit…. a VERY IMPORTANT SIGN. Now about the melons that have no lines. That's ok, but try to pick the melon that has the end still in the center of the bottom of the melon. If you are confused about this, call me 904-441-4487 and I will walk you through it.

Next take that bottom end of the melon and press lightly with your thumb and if it gives a bit, chances are that it is too far-gone. It should NOT give to the touch. Now smell it and it should have a nice aroma to it. Now let's say you have got it down to three melons and they all meet up to that criteria, then do the tap on the outside and the one with the lowest bass like sound and you might want to call it a hollow sound then that's the one to pick. Lastly is the taste test. Taste it and it should be the one you'll enjoy thoroughly. A lot of places will let you plug it where they'll take a small plug out of it and let you sample it which is of course the taste test. Happy Memorial Day and I wish you great things.

Wayne "The Mango Man" Pickering

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