As the temperature cranks up with the arrival of summer, people search for a cool refreshing treat to be the centerpiece of their back yard barbecues and family get-togethers. For many, they look no further than the watermelon.

Local merchant Richard Rast has been selling produce on the side of Highway 82 in Columbus for 27 years and says of the variety of fruits and vegetables he offers, watermelon is the top seller in the summer.

“Some of them come in and buy three or four watermelons at a time,” Rast said.

The local watermelon crop, dominated by Cherokee Watermelons in Caledonia, won’t come in until the end of June, which means the melons available now are brought in primarily from Florida.

Rast gets his produce from a Farmer’s Market in Birmingham and has been known to make as many as four trips a week to keep the melon in supply. On any given day, Rast has 150 watermelons in stock ranging in size from small to medium to large.

Rast said he has seen people use many different methods to check for the perfect watermelon.

“You can look at them, a lot of folks thump them or you can look at the belly,” he said.

Rast said he prefers to check the ridges on the outside. If the watermelon is prominently lined, it’s ready to eat, he said. If the lines aren’t quite visible yet, it still needs a few days before it will be at its juiciest.

“If it’s good and lumpy that’s another way to tell,” he added. “If you get one like that, you’re good to go.”

While he offers both seeded and seedless watermelons, Rast said the seedless watermelon isn’t as sweet.

“It’s just not as good,” he said.

Across town, Rast’s niece, Katie Rast, sits at a produce stand her father operates off Gardner Boulevard. Katie, 14, said she has been selling watermelons since she was a little girl.

“When I was little I would always sit on top of the watermelons,” she said. “I always felt really tall.”

While she too sells a variety of produce, Katie Rast said watermelon is in high demand.

“When people come up, they’re looking for watermelons,” she said.

Katie Rast’s stand also offers seedless watermelons, but she said the bright red of the watermelon is what draws people in.

“There is yellow meat and red meat but we won’t have the yellow until the Fourth of July,” she said. “The yellow has a sour taste to it. A lot of people like it but the red meat is sweeter.”

She agreed with her uncle that there are many different ways to tell if a melon is right, but her tried and true method is to thump it.

“When I pick out the watermelon, I hit on it,” she said. “If it sounds hollow that means its better. That’s what my daddy taught me.”

Both stands will be open throughout the summer and into the fall.

Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.