Summertime Melons Beginning to Roll Into Area Stores : Cool weather has delayed arrival of the seasonal favorites. Prices will start to dip as August approaches.

Sinking a knife into a melon, exposing its delicate, watery flesh, is a true summertime ritual.

Watermelon. Cantaloupe. Casaba. Honeydew. Crenshaw. Tangy or sweet, seedless or otherwise, melons will soon be a strong presence at area markets.

This season’s melon arrival has been somewhat delayed because of cooler-than-normal temperatures in the Imperial and San Joaquin valleys, where much of the state’s melon crops are raised.

Despite this year’s sometimes harsh, inclement weather, grower Art Perry of Manteca said consumers will nonetheless have quality fruit to buy.

“The bad weather that hit during the growing time has caused there to be a smaller volume, but [customers] won’t be disappointed with their purchases,” he said.

With a smaller volume of product on the market, Perry said, consumers can expect melon prices to be slightly higher than in past seasons.

Currently, seedless red-fleshed watermelons can be had at local grocery stores for about $3 each. That price will come down as the harvest increases later in August.

Cantaloupes are selling in the 30-cents-a-pound range. But with all melons, you’ll want to keep an eye out for sales at the grocery stores. For instance, last week cantaloupes were being sold for 19 cents a pound at an area chain market.

As with watermelons, the price of cantaloupes and other melons will most certainly dip later in the summer. Again, watch the grocery store ads for the best deals.

As anybody who has purchased melons with any regularity will know, choosing a ripe, flavorful melon can be a thankless task.

The process of choosing the perfect--or at least acceptable--melon seems to call for some sort of divine sensory intervention.

Sometimes the smell of a melon indicates ripeness. For some varieties, it’s all in the feel: the melon may not be ready until the end that was attached to the vine becomes soft. For melons such as the watermelon, a couple light thumps can provide a clue.

“You can try the ‘ping-ping’ test,” said Perry, a vice president with George Perry & Sons, one of California’s largest watermelon growers. “Tap your fingers on the watermelon and if you hear a ‘ping-ping’--opposed to an empty thud--then that would be a good sign.”

Maybe the best trick, Perry said, is to “look at the cuts.”

If there aren’t already some halved melons to peruse, ask the produce department attendant to slice one open for a look. “If the cut melon looks good, then you can pretty much count on the others to be of similar quality,” Perry said.

Locally, you won’t find much of a commercial melon industry. Ventura County farmers simply are unable to compete with the high-production areas found in the state’s warmer regions.

But the impressive array of melons grown by Underwood Ranches of Somis is available exclusively at three area locations.

“We experiment with about 11 different varieties,” said James Barker of Underwood Ranches.

These include seeded and seedless varieties of red and yellow watermelons and various cantaloupes. They may be bought at the Tierra Rejada produce stand in Moorpark, the Underwood Ranches stand in Somis and the Camarillo Farmers’ Market.

Several of the Underwood Ranches melons are unique in that they are not available elsewhere on a wide scale.

“Some of the [varieties] were obtained from Europe. You won’t see these in the stores here because they are pretty delicate and can’t be shipped very readily,” Barker said.

Two favorites with their customers are the French Morning and French Afternoon melons. The “a.m.” melon features a meaty lime-hued flesh and is something akin to the honeydew melon. The “p.m.” version sports an orange/yellow flesh, similar to a cantaloupe, with a tasty, high-sugar content flavor.

The Underwood Ranches melons are just now becoming available and will be around into September. The Underwood Ranch roadside market is at 5696 Los Angeles Ave., Somis. Call 386-4660. Tierra Rejada Ranch is at 3370 Moorpark Road, Moorpark. Call 529-3690.