Do you have a favorite fruit?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Nevertheless, I looked up the annual rainfall for your area and it is about 41.3 inches. Rainfall for the melon-growing area of Colorado is about 12 inches. Where there is rain, there are clouds. We also have 258 days of sunshine as opposed to Philly which has about 207. That can make a big difference.

I don't know what to tell you. All I know is what I know. There is no problem with the growth/production of local watermelons (seeds or seedless) and cantaloupes in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Maybe some people in Philadelphia grow tomato plants in their backyards, but the city is not a melon-growing locality.

[serious crayons]

(Incidentally, the opening A in "Amish" is not a long A. It's pronounced like the A in "Ah-hah!" A lot of tourists get that wrong, or, at any rate, they used to.)

Not to correct you but just to reassure you, I've never heard anyone pronounce it with a long A.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Not to correct you but just to reassure you, I've never heard anyone pronounce it with a long A.

Maybe it's not as frequent as it used to be. Back in the days (say, the 1960's) when the tourism industry in Lancaster County was just beginning to grow, we'd get a lot of New Yorkers come through and pronounce it with a long A.

[Front-Ranger]

Watermelon is in the New York Times Well newsletter today!
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/well/eat/watermelon-health-benefits-recipes.html?campaign_id=18&emc=edit_hh_20240703&instance_id=127855&nl=well&regi_id=91026593&segment_id=171270&te=1&user_id=8b5ad6a133ffcce0b9fda3ccfb15b213

[Front-Ranger]

I went to the Sherlock Holmes book group meeting today and, as I was leaving, I noticed there was a Trader Joes next door. So, I popped in and acquired a bottle of watermelon-cucumber cooler! I'll let you know how it tastes.

[Jeff Wrangler]

The farmer family that runs the farmers' market where I buy sweet corn has developed a variety of strawberry that produces all summer, so it's possible to enjoy locally grown strawberries all summer. I had some last week, and they were very good, nice and sweet.

[Front-Ranger]

I've added a poll to Jeff's question. I realize that tomato is not a veggie, but a fruit, though most people use it as a veggie.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I've added a poll to Jeff's question. I realize that tomato is not a veggie, but a fruit, though most people use it as a veggie.

What a good idea!

I guess you could also say that corn (maize) is a grain, not a vegetable, but I guess most Americans anyway treat it as a vegetable.

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks, Jeff. In botany there's no such thing as a vegetable, I've heard. Plants are classified as stalks, roots, leaves, fruit, or seeds. Vegetable is a portmanteau term. Or is it an umbrella term?