Saturday, Jul. 31, 2010

Fruit stands ripe for the buying: Grown in Merced County and fresh are the main ingredients for farm sellers.

By CAROL REITER
creiter@mercedsun-star.com

Holding an ice cold watermelon, Marissa Marchini showed a customer at the Marchini Farms produce stand how to tell if it's ripe.

"My grandmother says a watermelon gets almost a sweet sap on the outside," Marchini said. "And see the end of it? How it pokes out? That means it's ripe."

Marchini should know ripe. Her family, including her father, Jeff Marchini, and her grandfather, Joe Marchini, own Marchini Farms in Le Grand. The family has a fruit and vegetable stand on Minturn Road, brimming with just-picked peaches, squash and almost everyone's favorite, ripe watermelon.

On Friday morning, the little stand was bustling with visitors. Spiro Popratnjak of Canada hefted the cantaloupes and watermelons in a bin, while Marchini Farms employee Eddie Granados unloaded freshly picked sweet corn into another.

For the full story, click here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/07/31/1513660/fruit-stands-ripe-for-the-buying.html