Joe Willis started planting watermelon on his dad's farm when he was 8. Now it's a big part of the family business.
By JANET ZINK
Published June 13, 2003
WIMAUMA - Summer's almost here, and with it come backyard barbecues.
That means hot dogs and burgers on the grill, potato salad and, of course, watermelon.
"If you have hot weather, people want to eat watermelons," said Wimauma farmer Joe Willis. "Watermelons and good weather go hand in hand."
Willis, 27, who runs Willis Farms with his father, grows the refreshing red-fleshed fruit on 90 acres in Hillsborough County and 60 acres in Manatee County.
The younger Willis, a fifth generation Florida farmer, first planted watermelons when he was 8 years old.
"My grandpa used to grow you-pick peas and people would come out for you-pick vegetables. To make me a little extra money in the summer, my dad would let me plant six or eight rows of watermelon and I'd sell them to people when they came to pick peas," Willis said.
Willis Farms, which employs 20 people, started growing watermelons on a large scale about five years ago, he said. The business only sells wholesale.
"What we'll do typically is grow a crop of tomatoes and then at the end of the crop of tomatoes we'll get rid of the tomato plants with herbicide, but we leave the vine," he said. "When the watermelon takes off, they'll cling to the dead tomato vines and it protects them from the wind."
He repeats the cycle twice each year, harvesting tomatoes and watermelons each fall and spring.
"Memorial Day is our big weekend (for watermelons)," Willis said.
In the fall, Willis said his watermelons usually go to a processor who cuts them up and packages them in plastic containers for sale on grocery store shelves.
In the summer, they go whole to stores all over the eastern United States. Locally, Sam's Club carries Willis Farms melons.
Willis said 75 percent of his crop is seedless watermelon. He buys seeds for both seeded and seedless melons and sends them to a grow house. The small plants are returned to him to place in the ground. Willis said he fills rows with three seedless plants followed by a seeded watermelon, which pollinates the seedless fruit.
"If you don't have a seeded watermelon in the field, you will not produce any seedless," Willis said.
The demand for melons without seeds far outpaces the demand for those with, Willis said, but he doesn't think it has anything to do with taste.
"I think people just got tired of dealing with seeds," he said.
Willis promised that any fruit harvested from his farm only makes it to the store if it's high quality. But he offered some pointers on increasing the chances of purchasing a melon with a top-notch interior.
"The first thing I want is a good, well-rounded, shapely watermelon," Willis said.
Dips in the rind can be a sign of soft, mealy flesh.
Willis recommended looking for a light color between the strips of green on the watermelon rind. A yellow belly, where the watermelon was resting on the ground, also indicates quality melon meat inside, he said.
"The old timers, they talk about tapping on the watermelon," he said.
They're listening for a hollow sound, he said, that tells them the fruit inside may be mealy.
Expect to pay from $5 to $6 retail for an average whole watermelon, Willis said.
Although watermelons are not a huge crop for Hillsborough County, Willis said he plans to keep planting them as long as the weather cooperates.
"The biggest thing that can hurt you is bad weather up north," Willis said. "People don't want to get out and eat watermelons in bad weather. It's a picnic type of fruit. It's a "thank you, Lord, summer is here' fruit."
