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Is Mega-melon Season About to Begin?
- Bob Benenson
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Three Sisters Garden's Watermelons are Delicious and Usually Good Exercise
My friend Tracey Vowell grows delicious melons at her Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee, Illinois... and she grows them big. That's why I'd been awaiting news of when she would start selling her watermelons, until Saturday when she revealed that they'd be available for delivery on Wednesday.
The first watermelon I got from Tracey in 2024, seen in the photo above, was 18 pounds. It drew immediate attention from Hobbes, our B.O.B. (Big Orange Boy) cat, who seemed to be trying to make sense of a piece of fruit that was bigger than him.
But we hadn't seen nothin' yet. The next week this mega-melon, clocking in at 27 pounds, made its appearance. I don't recall that Hobbes would even mess with this.
Now, cutting down a 27-pound watermelon on an apartment kitchen counter has its challenges, and that's a lot of fruit for a two-person household. So we'll share, which is actually nothing new. Sweet corn is actually Tracey's signature crop, and I've become something of a corn pimp, ordering extra for some of our neighbors.
While waiting for watermelon, we did not go fruitless in Saturday's order. Tracey delivered this can't-stop cantaloupe, clocking in at nine pounds, along with some of that corn.
This is what a nine-pound cantaloupe looks like cut.
Also on Saturday, I made a quick stop at Green City Market in Lincoln Park, where I found my first red, sweet summer apples of the season at the stand of Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois).
Then on to The Lincoln Park Farmers Market (less than a mile west of Green City) where I captured some of the glorious color of summer, and got caught up with remarkable Market Manager Elsa Jacobson, who has expanded the once-fading 44-year-old market to new heights.
Elsa informs that a one-day campaign Saturday in support of the area's Love Fridges and the Chicago Food Sovereignty Coalition netted 225 pounds of food for people who face food insecurity!
I was also struck by the beautiful range of colors in the sunflowers at the stand of The Wandering Wildflower.
My mixed market art: From Green City, Sunrise summer apples and bell peppers from Nichols (these were the first green peppers I've seen with a hint of red this year), blueberries from Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan), and you-gotta-try-these blueberry streusel doughnuts from Daly's Donuts (Chicago)... and from The Lincoln Park Farmers Market, field tomatoes from the stand of Los Rodriguez (Eau Claire, Michigan) and seeded sourdough brioche buns from Banter (Chicago).