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| Ken DeCock, owner of Boyka's DeCock Farms and Greenhouses. |
I should have
listened to my grandfather. When I was a kid I would travel with him to area
farms to visit with people he knew or to buy bushels of something for my grandmother. Whenever he was buying fruits and vegetables he would try to show
me how to make the best selections -- even the best tree to climb for cherries
and apples. But I never paid attention and often joked with him saying I didn't
need to know because I had him.
Grandpa passed
away long ago. And now that I am the one picking out produce I wish - and I'm
sure my family wishes - I would have listened. I can pick out a good avocado
for guacamole. That's easy but a sweet watermelon or cantaloupe, forget it.
As luck would
have it a produce farmer recently offered me a second chance to learn the
teachings of my grandfather and I took it.
"This is the
first day we've had white sweet corn," said Ken DeCock of Boyka's Farm
Market in Macomb Township, pointing toward a green wagon filled with corn that
DeCock had picked while the rest of us were just thinking about waking up.
Ken's farm and produce stand are named after his father Sylvester DeCock. If
you're of Flemmish descent as Ken's father was you know that Boyka is Belgium
for little boy. It was the nickname given to Sylvester - who was the oldest of
three sons born to Hilaire and Mary DeCock. Sylvester and his wife Virginia had
four sons who became the third generation of Boykas to work the farm. They were
the entrepreneurs who began selling their fruits and vegetables off wagons
parked on 23 Mile Road. Two-years later they expanded their services to include
bedding plants and hanging baskets. So began the produce stand owned by Boyka's
DeCock Farms & Greenhouses and operated by Ken and his brother Bob. As when
their parents were running things, the stand offers bedding plants and hanging
baskets from May to June and fruits and vegetables from mid-July to Oct. 31.
How to choose a good ear of corn?
There are several varieties of corn sitting on the wagons outside the family's stand this week including bi-color and
white sweet corn.
"What you
don't want to do is rip it all the way down," Ken said. There's no need
for tearing off the husk and if farmers were anything like retailers they would
have a sign on their stand warning customers: You rip it. You buy it. Instead
pick up the cob and inspect the husk for holes and black marks or blemishes. If
you're still not convinced you have a good cob peel back a small section of the
husk at the top of the corn and check there for worms or holes. If you cannot
see it there chances are it's a good piece of corn. Also, if you like small
sweet kernels choose a cob with a narrow top. If you like big kernels choose a
wider cone. "I have a friend who likes it so mature the kernels stick to
his teeth. To each his own I guess," Ken said. The bi-color and sweet
white corn costs around $4.25 a dozen but the cost is likely to go down as more
varieties become ready for harvest.
How to pick a
good cantaloupe?
It's much easier
than one might imagine. At the bottom of the cantaloupe where the melon was
attached to the vine you'll see a small circle. If the middle of it has a
portion of the vine attached it means the melon had to be torn from the vine
and is probably not quite ready. It will be good to eat but not as sweet as one
that's had time to ripen. If the circle has an indentation at its center and
surrounding edge it means the melon has had time to sweeten and probably fell
from the vine. The skin also says much about the melon. If it has an indented
circle but a green cast give it a day or two to sweeten as in the case of a
green banana. Also, a cantaloupe with a visible netting or web-like surface
also means it's ripe for picking. A melon with a smoother surface or balding
means it might be ripe but its flavor is questionable.
How to pick a
sweet watermelon?
This is a tad
more difficult as it requires you to hold the melon with both hands while
tapping the side of it. As you tap the melon pay attention to the tone and
vibration created by the tap. A green melon will have a high tone and barely
any vibration because of its density and lack of water. Now tap another. If you
hear a thud and feel no vibration chances are its meat is overripe and
saturated with water. What you want to hear and feel with a tap is a medium
pitch sound and somewhat of a vibration. A yellowing on the surface and a dry
squiggly vine attached to the melon also means it's ripe for picking. If you
really want a sweet watermelon put up with the seeds.
"We lost a
little of the sweetness in the process of breeding watermelons for convenience
sake as in no seeds," said Ken, who added one final tip for anyone
shopping for produce.
"Please
don't squeeze the merchandise," he said. That won't help in finding a good
melon or cob or tomato. It just ruins the produce for the next person - and in
some cases destroys the product all together. If you don't know that a ripe
tomato is going to be dark red or how to choose any other fruit or vegetable
just ask.
"Why do they
have to squeeze it?" Ken mused, before heading into the field.
Gina Joseph is a
multimedia journalist and columnist for The Macomb Daily. Send comments to
gina.joseph@macombdaily.com, follow @ginaljoseph on Twitter
