*To celebrate the fact that both myself and Mark Twain have proclaimed the watermelon to be a gift from the gods, I feel moved to share of few facts about the Texas watermelon that will hopefully enlighten any previously ignorant visitors to this blog, and then cause them to more fully appreciate one of mother nature's greatest accomplishments.
FACTS
1. Texas ranks 3rd in U.S. watermelon production, with cash receipts exceeding $50 million annually, and a yearly economic impact in excess of $160 million.
2. Watermelons are the state's largest annual horticultural crop, with over 42,000 acres being devoted to growing them, in over 100 Texas counties.
3. While commercial grower/shippers coordinate sales to large retail outlets that serve large metropolitan areas, roadside sales also provide a significant income for many small farming families in many areas of the state, especially in East Texas.
4. Sequential harvests of watermelons start in April in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and in June and July in the Winter Garden and East Texas areas, and in August and September in the Rolling Plains area, and in late summer and early fall in the Cross Timbers/Deleon area and in the southern High Plains, thus assuring the year round availability of this tasty treat.
Note: It should be noted that many Texas growers depend on various "approved" insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides to help sustain their production...and that further information on this subject is available online from the US government at www.epa.gov/pesticides .
No comments:
Post a Comment