The Life of a Watermelon
Delicious Watermelon!
From Planting to Harvest
Fields all around my rural village are planted with corn, potatoes, soybeans and WATERMELON.
I always assumed that watermelon SEEDS were planted in the rows but NO, seedlings are taken from the greenhouses out into the fields as flats.
Planting the seedlings is back breaking work done by hand in long rows, as far as the eye can see.
Each row looks like a miniature greenhouse, with long rows of plastic to keep the weeds down and small hoops to protect the little plants.
Don’t forget the bees for pollination!
The sunshine and rain do their work over the growing season resulting in beautiful melons!
At harvest time, workers hand pick the best watermelon. There is no harvesting machinery for choosing the perfect melons. Only the workers KNOW if they are the correct size, weight and shape.
Since there are thousands of acres with watermelon crops, it takes many crews and trucks to get the job done.
Busloads of workers are brought in.
It’s a long way UP to fill a truckload! I love watching the workers throw the melons from person to person to get them where they need to be.
Once loaded, they wait….
Huge semi trucks arrive to take the watermelon away from the fields to a nearby business which handles distribution from their warehouse.
The trucks then go to the distribution center.
The trucks are unloaded by hand into the warehouse onto a conveyor belt.
Again the melons are inspected and sorted.
Can you imagine the logistics of getting the watermelon into local grocery stores? This is just a portion of a VERY busy room.
These pallets outside the warehouse are ready to be loaded and the watermelons be sent to their places in the grocery stores.
Let’s go back into the fields again!
The critters will enjoy their own picnic with watermelon which were left.
When the season is over, the black plastic is removed and piled up at the end of the rows. That’s quite a sight! Maybe this year I will discover what they do with all of it because they certainly don’t BURN it!
When the fields are finally cleared and as the season changes to autumn once again, then it is time to prepare the soil for next season’s planting
Thank you for coming along to enjoy the process! Is your mouth watering?
If you would like to read more from me, please SUBSCRIBE!
Dawn Ulmer, a retired Registered Nurse, has enjoyed writing since the age of 19 when she wrote ‘My Philosophy of Nursing’. After marrying and becoming a mother, she developed a newsletter for young mothers called ‘Moms and Sidekicks’. She has been a columnist for a women’s newspaper in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the subject of time management. From that column, her first book was written and published: “Balance of the Hurried Woman”. Through the years, she has been published in ‘Decision’ magazine, ‘Our Daily Bread’ devotional and other publications. Presently, she is enjoying writing on Medium, her favorite platform.
Would you like a FREE copy of 365 Devotionals for Women? It is ready to be sent to you as a PDF!
Please send your email address to Dawn49097@gmail.com and state that you would like a FREE copy.
Also, if you would like to be added or deleted from my ‘Special’ list, please let me know.
Órla K. Nikita Rayne Johnson Rosa Diaz-Casal Lu Skerdoo Lee Byrd Haley K. Susie Winfield Jemimah Sharon Hillam Mary Papas Ken Van Camp Doris Rouse Alma Curry
