Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Recently Laura Shurlnight appeared on Making It Grow and and showed us how to make a delicious watermelon pico de gallo. The South Carolina watermelon queen spends her year traveling across the state educating consumers on the nutritional and health benefits of eating certified South Carolina grown watermelons. Of all the vegetables grown in South Carolina, watermelon (yes it is technically a vegetable) has the most acreage devoted to it. Eighty percent of the watermelons South Carolina farmers grow are seedless varieties and are smaller in size than in the past to suit today’s smaller families – it also makes it easier to pop them in the refrigerator and get them nice and cold before cutting into them. We have a reputation for tasty watermelons that goes back to the 1800’s and today South Carolina is the fifth largest watermelon producing state in the country.