We ate our first watermelon of the season last week, and the first bite took me back immediately to Grandmama’s back porch in summer. It’s been a long time since a watermelon has come my way that could be rated as good as Uncle Jack’s, but this one made the cut.

We had the perfect climate — hot — and the perfect soil — sandy — to grow world-class watermelons. And that’s what Uncle Jack did. It wasn’t the main crop, but it could be counted on to bring in a respectable amount of income if the weather cooperated.

He only grew two varieties of watermelons— Congos and Charleston Grays. The Congos had a dark green skin with stripes that were even darker. The Charleston Grays were a lighter green. They were both large watermelons, and both had a delicious sweet and juicy flesh.

When watermelons started getting ripe, the hands would bring them up from the

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