My parents sold watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables in the summer season during the WWII war years. It was a family joint effort to plant watermelons. Mama was the main "Boss". After the garden plot was worked, mama would tie a string to two stakes on each end of the watermelon patch. This was to mark straight rows which was always a gardeners pride and joy. One of us would then place anywhere from 3-5 watermelon seeds in each mound or hill, about three to four feet apart while another followed and watered each hill with water dipped from a water bucket. Then, we covered each hill with loose soil and tamped it down with our foot. Sometimes when it was a dry season we would carry water to the patch and again water each plant.
When the plants got big enough mama disposed of all but the healthiest of the seeds that came up. She hated to "kill" a healthy live plant, but it was a must. Several years when the watermelons had one smaller end during the extreme dry seasons. Mama said it was because of lack of water. She should have known because her dad, my grandfather Philip Clover, raised watermelons to sell the seeds to J.C. Fields Seed Co. Grandpa Clover designed and developed a watermelon seeder. Grandpa Philip and Ellen Clover raised 13 children on their sandy Grant County, OK farm and this was the prime resource for their livelihood other than milking cows and farming.
My parents set up chairs and tables under the shade trees and gave visitors and prospective customers free watermelons to eat. I am sure this cut down on sales, but that was back when that was the way people were. News of their generosity spread and people came from everywhere. On most summer weekends, our yard looked like a family reunion was being held.
Years later, when we did not raise watermelons to sell anymore, people still drove into our yard asking if we had any watermelons for sale. They were disappointed and we were sorry we disappointed them. What memories!……....
Please pass a slice of watermelon and the salt shaker.
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