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the seeds, however the seed producing part always has the best flavor
and is the juiciest. When you get your slice, you lean way over
keeping your elbows elevated or the juice would run down your arm and
drip off the elbows. If there were some young children, they would be
gathered and given a whole half and a spoon each and told to have at
it. Then there was the inevitable seed fight, or seed spitting
distance contest. While eating, collect several seeds in the jaw,
like a chipmunk then with a pethew, you see how far the seed will go.
You can take a seed, pinch it between the thumb and index finger,
quickly snap it and it will go flying off to pop someone. The above
mentioned melons have a thick inner rind that made great preserves,
especially if made with home made syrup. They go very well with a
couple of big "cathead" biscuits. All the store bought jams and
jellies cannot compare to the flavor of homemade varieties. The
melons developed for commercial farming just don't have that thick
rind, thus don't make good preserves. I don't want to forget 'bout
the cantaloupes. They have such a better flavor when eaten soon after
picking. Select a big one, cut and slice it up, add salt and pepper
if desired and feast away. The day we dreaded to see come was when
Papa would tell us he was about to let the hogs have what was left.
The ones left were not very good, but a couple of kids could not be
told that. We would try to find one that had been covered by the vine
well enough so it didn't get too much sun, but it would usually prove
to be very mushy/mealy inside with not much flavor. Finally we were
convinced that what remained was sure enough hog feed.

Shortly after the passing of the watermelons it was time for the
grapes to begin to ripen. Our grapevine seemed to be the main point
of interest for visitors, when grapes were in season. It seemed as
though we always had more relatives just stopping by to see us, when
the grapes were ripe. We had an arbor with two big vines, around the
arbor the vines hung down the sides. This is where Vera and I would
begin seriously looking for those first to ripen. Once a few ripening
ones were found we would try to keep it quite for a day or two hoping
no one else had noticed what was happening. They were at their
absolute best after a late summer rain shower, you run out and pick
some cool grapes and really enjoy them. The big problem was the vines
were over your head and wet, so you would find a nice pod of grapes,
grasp it gently hold your head down, this way you wouldn't get a face
full of water, pull the pod and there you had it. How refreshing this
would be, oh so goooood, uh uh. The best ones here too were at the
end of the season, after most had been devoured by man or beast. As
the season progresses they eventually become harder to find, so you
have to spend more time finding good ones. Scuppernongs are generally
a deep tan color, however those late in the season were turning to a
darker brown color. They were mostly scattered about, usually only

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