Family Makes Watermelons Their Business

Family Makes Watermelons Their Business FARM HOME Food Though they’ve raised and sold many varieties of produce and meat over the years watermelons are synonymous with the Beattie family A visit to the Iowa State Fair isn’t complete without stopping at their Beattie’s Melon Patch food stand for a fruit cup and perhaps a grilled kabob The 2024 fair will be the 46th year for the family says Sherry Beattie who started the melon growing venture with her husband Gary shortly after they were married Gary and his father purchased and sold melons during Gary’s college years and he continued the business after his father retired The young couple decided to grow melons on the sandy bottom land on their Runnels Iowa farm As the operation grew they started as many as 25 000 cantaloupes in hothouses and learned that watermelons and pumpkins did best when seeded directly in the soil “It’s a lot of physical labor ” Beattie says “We hoed the field three times per season ” Then there was harvest all done by hand Thankfully the Beatties and their four children had help Beattie’s career as a photographer at their local school connected them with teenagers looking for jobs in the field and at the state fair The fair is 11 days but it takes a couple of weeks to set up and a week to take down Watching the melons being cut up is part of the fair experience while barkers sell fruit cups of watermelon or mixed cups with cantaloupe and grapes It’s a busy hectic tradition for the Beatties and their children grandchildren and other relatives Beattie manages the stand and her husband restocks the coolers several times a day There have been changes over the years After their children became adults the Beatties started purchasing melons from a local grower All the watermelons are seedless With a new building in 2010 they added a grill for kabobs and hope to have many more years at the fair Check out photos and videos on the Beattie’s Watermelon Stand Facebook page Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Beattie’s Melon Patch 11961 SE 36th Ave Runnells Iowa 50237 ph 515 966-2490; sherrylynnphoto@gmail com; Facebook: Beattie’s Watermelon Stand

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