Recently, FARMWISE Indiana hosted a melon field day and tasting with the Southwest Purdue AG Center in Vincennes. Located in Knox County, this area is home to countless growers of both specialty and more commonly available melon (or as we think of them: Honeydew, Cantaloupe, and Watermelon).

The mission of FARMWISE Indiana is to connect wholesale ready farmers with institutional buyers. Our work and our outreach centers on learning about and opening market channel conversations between growers and buyers. Gathering together to learn and communicate is vital when working within the food system.

The Southwest Purdue AG Center performs targeted research in areas ranging from food safety to crop health- specific to this event: melon seed trials and crop health.

FARMWISE Indiana staff-at-large Laura Stoltz and Wenjing Guan of Purdue created an idea of hosting a tasting event around Wenjing’s field trial melon varieties. Wenjing had an interest in showcasing melons to growers and seed company representatives, while Laura added the idea of including buyers. The goal is to promote the flavor profile to the end consumer while also addressing cultural methods, storability, and other metrics from the commercial production side. FARMWISE Director of Producer Relations and Market Access, Robin Kitowski, worked with Wenjing and her Team to create an event that was interesting, approachable, and full of robust summer flavor!

“I work with farmers throughout the region to improve fruit and vegetable production, including evaluating new crops and cultivars.
When deciding whether to adopt a new crop or cultivar, farmers must consider many factors, one of the most important being market demand and buyer preferences. At the same time, it is equally important for buyers to understand the opportunities and limitations of what can be grown successfully in our region under its natural conditions. I believe this event provides an excellent opportunity to foster that mutual understanding.”
Wenjing Guan, Purdue University Extension Specialist

Dr Wenjing Guan, during the tour of the fields

The Melon Tasting Day event brought together varietal field trial research conducted by Dr. Wenjing Guan at the Southwest Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center with real-time flavor feedback from participants. Growers, buyers, seed industry representatives, value chain coordinators, and Purdue Extension staff connected end consumer perspective evaluations with key varietal traits, gaining insights relevant to both commercial and small-scale melon production and markets.

The day also included tours of the melon plots as well as the Extension Food Safety Training Hub, a specialized educational and research facility located at the Vincennes University Agricultural Center, led by Scott Monroe, Extension Food Safety Administrator. This event was invaluable to educate both the grower and the stakeholders on the current state of melon seed and plant health.”
Robin Kitowski, FARMWISE Indiana Director of Producer Relations and Market Access

Below are results of some flavor polls we took of attendees. This FARMWISE Staff loved the Orange and Yellow varieties of watermelon!