ARKANSAS MELON FIELD

  • New York Times
  • ARKANSAS MELON FIELD

The Wednesday NY Times is a treat because that’s the day of the weekly food section, far and away the best of its kind in the country. It’s not just a tired collection of recipes and a rundown of the new flavors of Pop Tarts, but a deeply reported and interesting roundup on food ingredients, cooking, restaurants, beverages and, my favorites, stories that mix a little travel with food by featuring regional specialties.

Advertisement

I bury the lede on this item only to explain how big a deal it is to see Hope watermelons featured prominently this week. It’s an article (and this photo) not about Hope monster melons but a trend toward smaller, seedless melons. A taste:

IN this dusty field filled with experimental watermelons off Highway 174, there is but one sound that matters.

It’s a deep, soft pop, like a cork slipping free from a wine bottle. You hear it when a pocket knife cracks the green rind on a watermelon so full of wet fruit that the outside can barely contain the inside.

Terry Kirkpatrick, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Arkansas, spends a lot of time here popping open watermelons. He’s searching for deeply colored flesh that is crisp but not crunchy and so juicy that pools fill the divots left by a spoon.

The taste has to be exceptionally sweet but just slightly vegetal, so you know it came from the earth and not the candy counter.

These days, a good watermelon also has to ship well, which means a thick rind and a uniform shape. It has to be small enough so people pushing grocery carts in big-city stores will buy it. And it can’t have seeds.

All of that describes his small hybrid triploid beauties with names like Precious Petite and Orchid Sweet. They are very likely the future for many watermelon farmers, but they are also heartbreakers for a lot of people around southwest Arkansas who miss the old-fashioned seeded melons that now grow in only a few fields.

Arkansas Times: Your voice in the fight

Are you tired of watered-down news and biased reporting? The Arkansas Times has been fighting for truth and justice for 50 years. As an alternative newspaper in Little Rock, we are tough, determined, and unafraid to take on powerful forces. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, we are making a difference. But we can't do it without you. Join the 3,400 paid subscribers who support our great journalism and help us hire more writers. Sign up for a subscription today or make a donation of as little as $1 and help keep the Arkansas Times feisty for years to come.

Previous article Dr. Laura to quit radio Next article Bloody Corner: A look at the Battle of Fayetteville