Dubuque Telegraph Herald, IA

10-09-07

Sherrill man grows monster melon

Paul Meissner claims the state record with 184-pound watermelon

By EILEEN MOZINSKI TH staff writer

SHERRILL, Iowa -- Paul Meissner is proud to boast that his watermelon is anything but grocery store stock.

With the appearance of a massive, green boulder, Meissner's 184-pound melon captured the state record at last weekend's Anamosa Pumpkinfest.

The second-place watermelon was a mere 147 pounds.

"So I pretty much squashed the competition," Meissner said.

He beat the previous Iowa record, set in 2005, of 176 pounds.

Meissner planted the watermelon in early May and spent the first few weeks tending to it in a greenhouse.

Still, he didn't know he really had a "giant one" until he could hardly lift it off the ground and needed help to get it into his pickup truck.

It isn't his first foray into the competitive field of giant produce -- two years ago, Meissner turned out a 403-pound pumpkin, and last year he took second at state with a 125-pound watermelon.

His method involves organic gardening in soil that he says is some of the best in the country.

After moving to the Dubuque County farm in Sherrill about six years

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ago, Meissner quickly discovered how large everything grows in the area and said people frequently inquire what his larger-than-average produce tastes like.

"Everything's big here. The ears of corn, the potatoes and giant onions, and it all tastes good," he said.

An Iowa State University test of a soil sample from the area found the nutrients were off the charts, which Meissner credits to the black soil from the nearby hills settling onto the lower elevations.

Meissner found that smaller watermelons on the plant, which reached 1,000 square feet, would shoot up to half an arm's length within days.

"This plant just grew like crazy; it's unbelievable," he said. "It was really a freak of nature to watch that plant grow."

So, what to do with all that watermelon?

Meissner already has plucked some 200 pounds of additional fruit off the plant, which when added to the prize-winning melon is far more watermelon than one family can consume, even with the help of farmers markets and church picnics.

Meissner said he and his family will eat some of it, and the seeds will be saved for the exchanges with other growers and next year's crop.

But he said much of it will go to the cows on the farm where he and his wife, Nancy, rent and take care of the cattle.

Meissner and his watermelon will be at the Dubuque Farmers Market on Saturday and at Skip Breitbach Feed in Sherrill on Sunday, where he expects to run into some naysayers.

He said that he encountered a few hecklers in Anamosa who informed him his watermelon didn't look all that big. But he is hoping the prominence of his state title will put an end to those sentiments.

Giant-produce growers have an informal network for their seeds -- a connection in which Meissner now is delighted to find that his produce is getting the attention.

"Other giant-vegetable growers want my seeds," he said.

Meissner said the world's largest watermelon is a 250-pound North Carolina melon, although the Hope-Hempstead County, Ark., Web site boasts that area resident Lloyd Bright holds the record there with a 269-pound watermelon.

Meissner doesn't know if he can rival those weights given the climate differences, but he does have set plans to build upon his current record next year.

He hopes to close in on the 200-pound mark, although he admits that weather conditions next year might not be as conducive for growing a monstrously large watermelon.

"Every year, I don't give up. I try something else," he said.