Judging Watermelons - Save for the future!

[jswordy]

Watermelon season isn't here yet but this will be a great guide when it gets here! I still thump them but that is an acquired art. This could be easier.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Ever heard of putting a straw/wheat stem on the melon and see if aligns stem to flower end? Aligned = good; crosswise = not so good. Learn this from an old farmer many years ago and it seems to work most of the time but I have no idea why. Then again, don't think I've ever rejected any watermelon!!!

 

[jswordy]

Ever heard of putting a straw/wheat stem on the melon and see if aligns stem to flower end? Aligned = good; crosswise = not so good. Learn this from an old farmer many years ago and it seems to work most of the time but I have no idea why. Then again, don't think I've ever rejected any watermelon!!!

New one on me. It actually swivels to align? I'll have to try that, just for the fun!

 

[bearpaw8491]

Yep, it will slowly turn and go either crosswise or align with the length of the melon. The grass/wheat stem needs to be balanced on the melon so it's free to turn and of course no breeze. The way the old farmer explained it to me was "it's jest like devinin' water"! Try it and see if it works later this summer. Oh yeah, you might want to try it at home rather than at Wally World with a crowd (including the guys in the white jackets) looking on!

 

[jswordy]

Yep, it will slowly turn and go either crosswise or align with the length of the melon. The grass/wheat stem needs to be balanced on the melon so it's free to turn and of course no breeze. The way the old farmer explained it to me was "it's jest like devinin' water"! Try it and see if it works later this summer. Oh yeah, you might want to try it at home rather than at Wally World with a crowd (including the guys in the white jackets) looking on!

Having successfully witched for water several times, including our current farm well, I gotta try this. Does the straw need to be alive? They always say a live branch works best for devining, so I always use one.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Believe a dry stem/straw will work better. The old farmer who showed me this trick used a dry wheat straw from a bail of straw. I imagine a broom straw would work too. I almost admitted to "divining" a water line in my original post but thought I might really get "ragged" about that or be accused of sampling too much wine from the current batch!! It was the only time I ever got it to work. Keep us posted when watermelon season rolls around. The suggestions/pictures from your post are really good indicators too. I'm thinking about putting a straw on my primary next time and get an indication of the quality I can expect!!!

 

[jswordy]

Believe a dry stem/straw will work better. The old farmer who showed me this trick used a dry wheat straw from a bail of straw. I imagine a broom straw would work too. I almost admitted to "divining" a water line in my original post but thought I might really get "ragged" about that or be accused of sampling too much wine from the current batch!! It was the only time I ever got it to work. Keep us posted when watermelon season rolls around. The suggestions/pictures from your post are really good indicators too. I'm thinking about putting a straw on my primary next time and get an indication of the quality I can expect!!!

Ha! I'm gonna try that method. Story time. My FIL taught me to witch. Besides farming, he made a sideline living in the 1940s and 1950s with a backhoe and a forked branch. He'd divine it close to the surface, then simply use the backhoe to dig down and set concrete tiles on end to the surface. Pump out of the tile, tah-dah! Well water.

Way he taught me was to always use a live branch, ideally cut from a fruit tree. I was a doubter. He taught me in my backyard in Williamsburg, Va., using a peach branch. After he showed me how to hold it, I was amazed to see this branch turn down to ground in my hands with no input from me at all. It is the strangest feeling! I was in disbelief.

Once he saw that I had the gift, he told me, "Now, I want to you hold on to both ends of that branch in your hands REAL HARD! REAL HARD this time, and walk over where you just found it before." So, I did that. And the branch literally twisted itself, since I was holding the ends so tightly it could not rotate in my hands. Amazing.

So, I mentioned I witched my farm well. In the dead of a brown-grass dry August I witched out two spots where there was a really strong pull. One was ideal, near power and existing underground water lines, and well sited, etc. I called the driller.

He got there and I simply said, "Here is where I would like to locate my well."

He went back to his pickup and by golly, he pulled out a forked stick! Got it set in his hands right and walked to the location, and WHAM! Down it went. He drove a stake right there. It was only then I told him that I had witched it myself and got exactly the same location.

So, we hit water at 15 feet on drilling day and went down to 70 feet total. He tested production and it was 15 gallons per minute. In August. 5 gpm is considered adequate. He said, "You will never run out of water, ever."

I set my submersible pump at 50 feet, so there is a 20-foot column of water below it to keep silt out. That was in 1995. I have never run out of water. It is so soft that a tiny bit of soap just lathers up instantly. Made tons of wine and beer out of it, right out of the tap, before I learned that the same aquifer also feeds the spring at Jack Daniel's Distillery, about 20 miles as the crow flies from my house. It all runs through limestone and that makes it so soft.

 

[bearpaw8491]

Pretty amazing story. I've only been successful with "witchin'" one time but have seen others, including one of my grandfathers do it and find the same spot consistently as you said. An old timer I knew many years ago claimed to have done the same thing you did holding the fork as tightly as he possibly could. He said it almost sprained his wrists when it turned down! I have no idea why divining works sometimes for some folks and not for others but my one experience made me a believer.
BTW, sampled the "over-flow" bottle of 2nd run Moonshiner's Muscadine wine yesterday and the taste has improved even more since last week. Can ony imagine what it will taste like in a year - if I can wait that long!!!
Thanks again.

 

[jswordy]

Pretty amazing story. I've only been successful with "witchin'" one time but have seen others, including one of my grandfathers do it and find the same spot consistently as you said. An old timer I knew many years ago claimed to have done the same thing you did holding the fork as tightly as he possibly could. He said it almost sprained his wrists when it turned down! I have no idea why divining works sometimes for some folks and not for others but my one experience made me a believer.
BTW, sampled the "over-flow" bottle of 2nd run Moonshiner's Muscadine wine yesterday and the taste has improved even more since last week. Can ony imagine what it will taste like in a year - if I can wait that long!!!
Thanks again.

Yep, it is the strangest feeling to hold that branch.

Great on the wine! You'll need to drink it all up within 2 years unless you dosed it well with k meta. If you did, it might last 3-5 years. So it's nice you have gotten started.

 

[bearpaw8491]

My wines usually last 4-5 yrs - provided I don't get carried away. I opened a bottle of elderberry from 2016 last week and it was as smooth as could be. Became interested in muscadine wine recipes after planting a vineyard about 5 yrs back. I got tangled up in this hobby over 20 yrs ago for grins and giggles; I'm still grinnin' and gigglin'!!!

 

[Boatboy24]

Am I the only one who was expecting to see NSFW pictures in this thread?

 

[bearpaw8491]

OK Guys, this is no stuff, no slight of hand, dead still air in the house and no, I'm not breathing on it! My wife bought a melon at the store today but it's way too early for wheat to be combined and get a nice round, dry straw so here it is with a dry weed stem. I'll let you know how the melon was when we cut it. I have no explanation other than what the old farmer told me years ago.
Well, looks like the.mov is not an allowed extension. If someone can tell me what to do, I'll repost the video.

 

[mainshipfred]

I just bought a watermelon using the chart and it was one of the best ones I ever picked. It could have just been luck though.

 

[raspberry]

OK Guys, this is no stuff, no slight of hand, dead still air in the house and no, I'm not breathing on it! My wife bought a melon at the store today but it's way too early for wheat to be combined and get a nice round, dry straw so here it is with a dry weed stem. I'll let you know how the melon was when we cut it. I have no explanation other than what the old farmer told me years ago.
Well, looks like the.mov is not an allowed extension. If someone can tell me what to do, I'll repost the video.

I know it works been doing that with a broom straw for years grandparents showed me that trick

 

[bearpaw8491]

One last attempt at uploading the watermelon/straw video. If it doesn't work this time, I give up. As noted above, no smoke and mirrors, no breeze, the real deal but I have no idea why it works. I was able to email the link to another member this morning so maybe the 3rd time is the charm. The melon turned out to be OK but not the greatest in the world. Note the straw moves a little past full alignment.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yggnh2xii9m330e/IMG_0751.MOV?dl=0