Watermelon Elementary: Stripes are IN, y’all!

So we know stripes are “in” this year, right? We are all about stripes around the farm too. You know watermelons have stripes, but we have another kind of stripes too.

Sometimes we don’t have time, but this year we have planted rye grass in the harvest middles of the watermelon fields. (The harvest middles are the spaces left every three rows for the crews to drive the buses down during harvest.) This tells you how much planning goes into watermelons (and farming in general) because rye grass planting happens during the winter when it’s cold.

By planting time, the rye will be tall and will serve as a wind breaker and sand stopper. It protects the baby watermelons from getting sand-blasted by the wind, which can severely stunt their growth.

So when you buy your next striped garment to go along with this year’s trends, you can think about the importance of our watermelon stripes!