What better way to salute summer than to show up to a party carrying a watermelon? Sliced, scooped, or cubed, salted (yes, salted!) or not, we think that biting into a slab of the juicing, sugary stuff makes any day like vacation. Watermelon is commonly mistaken for a fruit, but actually, it’s a vegetable — closely related to cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash. It’s also made up of 92 percent water (read: low in calories and much more exciting than drinking a glass of aqua).

The average American eats up to 17 pounds of watermelon in a year, in 1,200 varieties, including yellow flesh, orange flesh, and the ever-popular red flesh watermelon. Market District from Giant Eagle produce team leader Dan Opfer says that during the summer, watermelon sales go up 600 percent. “I have worked in stores that sold eight bins [of watermelon] a day,” Opfre says. “That’s 400 melons!”

For the farmers growing the gorgeous green orbs, demand is just as high. Jeb Bartels, manager of the Clarion River Organics Coop, sold more than 800 pounds of watermelons last year, including those packed for Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance CSA subscribers. The farmers of Clarion River Organics manually harvest and care for the watermelons during the prime growing season, which runs from mid-August through early September. Watermelons can be a little difficult to get started, Bartels says. The vegetable is extremely weather-and temperature-sensitive, but can flourish with proper care.

Janoski’s Farm & Greenhouse grows the Sugar Baby variety, which “are sized like bowling balls and have black seeds. They’re known to be the sweetest watermelon grown in Pennsylvania,” says owner Patty Janoski.

And, watermelons are being put to unique use in restaurants around the region. Chef Andrew Morrison of Habitat Restaurant in Fairmont Pittsburgh will be serving up sides of watermelon coleslaw. The Pines Tavern and Restaurant is featuring a red onion, watermelon, and feta salad, along with a watermelon-cucumber tonic, infused with rose petals. And, the restaurant’s Chef Jason Culp is growing three kinds of melon for the menu, right in front of the restaurant.

Clarion River Organics, 824 Whitmer Road, Sligo. 814.603.1022. clarionriverorganics.com. Fairmont Pittsburgh, 510 Market St., Downtown. 866.840.8402. fairmont.com/pittsburgh. Janoski’s
Farm & Greenhouse, 1714 State Route 30, Clinton. 724.899.3438. janoskis.com. Market District for Giant Eagle, 100 Settlers Ridge, Robinson, 412.788.5392. marketdistrict.com.
Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance, 412.363.1971. pennscorner.com. The Pines Tavern and Restaurant, 5018 Bakerstown Road, Gibsonia, 724.625.3252. thepinestavern.com.