Watermelons are healthy, delicious, refreshing and thankfully in season well past Labor Day here in Florida! When we purchase our watermelons, we often choose them for size and whether or not they have seeds. This year has yielded a delightfully abundant crop of quality watermelons, but do you know how to choose the sweetest ones?

You may have heard of the thump test. This is where you tap on your watermelon and listen to the music! You want to hear a deep, rich baritone. Conversely, a knuckle rap that produces a dull sound is a sign that your watermelon may be too ripe.

As Mama used to say, don’t be superficial. The least attractive watermelons can have the sweetest personalities. Translated, that means that a dull melon is exactly what you want. The shinier watermelons are not as ripe. 

You also want to look for a field spot, which is a lighter, yellow spot indicating where the watermelon rested on the ground in the field. The lighter and yellower the field spot, the more time that melon was given to ripen on the vine.

Now comes the time to pick up your watermelon, and the heavier the better. A heavy watermelon is a juicy watermelon!

Do those things (and shop for all your produce at any one of Perrine’s Produce’s convenient locations, of course) and you will be living the sweet life!