Yorktown News-View (Yorktown, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Page: 4 of 16
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Page 4 • Yorktown News-View • Wednesday, June 29, 2011
WATERMELONS: Vasbinder enjoying good crop despite drought
1506 N. Esplanade • Cuero
361-275-3311
800-569-5172
www.partnerschevy.com
Continued from Page 1A
“How much are your
watermelons?” a customer
asked, walking up to the
truck and eyeing the foot-
ball-shaped melons. A quick
transaction takes place -
greenbacks for a green-
skinned melon. Vasbinder
reaches over and expertly
selects a melon from the
pick before loading it for the
customer.
“I’ve been farming all of
my life,” Vasbinder said as
the customer drove away.
Raised in Southern Bexar
County, Vasbinder and his
brothers helped his parents
on the farm where they liter-
ally grew up growing every-
thing from watermelons to
cantaloupes, produce to
corn, peanuts, cotton, cattle,
and hogs.
“I gained a broad range
of experience working on
the farm,” he said. “There
was nothing we didn’t do.”
In 1965, Vasbinder
moved to the Yorktown area
when he settled down on his
farm on Vasbinder Road,
which is located in the
Cotton Patch/Cabeza area.
He said he currently plants
three acres of watermelons
in the Cabeza sands.
“I used to plant 20 when
I supplied H-E-B,” he said.
“But now, planting is a
hobby of mine.”
Vasbinder has received
honors for dedication to
farming, including being
named the “Oustanding
Farmer/Rancher” by the
Yorktown Chamber of
Photo by Mari Goehlke/Yorklown News-View
Larry Vasbinder poses by a pile of watermelons Thursday.
Commerce in 1987. He has
also actively served for 32
years with the DeWitt
County Soil and Water
Conservation District.
Vasbinder’s wife,
Algerine, was a secretary at
Yorktown High School for
32 years, where students
affectionately referred to her
as “Mrs. V.”
“And former students still
call her ‘Mom’,” Vasbinder
said with a chuckle, shaking
his head. The couple have
one son. Larry Jr. and his
wife, Holly, have blessed the
Vasbinder’s with two grand-
daughters, 9-year-old
Madison, and 7-year-old
Haley.
Listening to Vasbinder
talk about the many years
spent farming, one quickly
Cuero Medical Clinic
would like to welcome
Theresa Zainotz, RN-FNP.
She will be joining the
practice on July 1, 2011
and will be in the clinic
every Friday.
Cuero Medical Clinic
2500 N Esplanade STE 102 • Cuero, Texas
361-275-3466
Cuero Medical Associates, P.A.
Mark A Heard, M.D. • David P Hill, D.O.
Leana Elliott, RN-FNP • Claire Zengerle, D.O.
William Metzger, PA-C
For All Generations with New Technology
and Old Fashioned Caring
realizes he has thumped
more than one or two water-
melons in his time.
Try thousands.
“The com burned up this
year,” Vasbinder said of his
other favorite crop, which he
also plants. “The drought
was just too bad.”
But even the drought
couldn’t keep Vasbinder
from mulling over his
favorite melons.
“We hand-watered our
watermelons for the last two
weeks,” Vasbinder explains.
“We had two big trucks with
big water tanks.”
Vasbinder said he plants
his watermelons on the first
day of spring, which is the
21st of March.
“They’re usually ready by
the 15th of June,” he said.
How do you know they’re
ready?
Vasbinder, ever knowl-
edgeable about his product,
is quick to answer this ques-
tion.
“Thumping is not a sure
factor,” he said, gently pat-
ting one his watermelons.
“There are many different
things to consider, such as
density.
“One trick,” Vasbinder
pointed out, turning a water-
melon and pointing to the
end, “is that little ‘curly-Q’
on the vine. That little
‘curly-Q’ across from the
stem on the vine must be
dry. That’s a good sign the
watermelon’s ready.”
Vasbinder noted most of
his watermelons range from
18 to 45 pounds. Average
price is usually $4 to $8,
depending on the size of the
melon.
“This is a very reasonable
rate for a top quality prod-
uct,” Vasbinder said. “I don’t
bring anything to town I
don’t think is 100 percent
quality.
“We usually have any-
wheres from 500 to 700
‘quality’ melons in a good
year,” Vasbinder said.
“That’s not counting the
ones that don’t measure up.”
Vasbinder said growing
quality melons is no easy
process.
“We cultivate. We chop.
We turn the melons,”
Vasbinder said of his water-
melon fields. “You’re always
out there.
“We pick ours two to
three times a week. A lot of
people only pick once a
week. By picking more
often, you stay on top of
delivering a fresh product.”
Vasbinder said most
watermelons will keep for
about two weeks if they are
kept cool. He also cautioned
against rolling the melons.
“That’s what makes them
mushy,” he said, hence the
hay in the truck bed. “You
have to be careful and not
move them around too
much.”
Vasbinder also stated
most people think watermel-
ons continue to “ripen” off
the vine like tomato s, but he
disputed this popular con-
ception.
“Once you pick a melon
off the vine, that’s it,”
Vasbinder said. “It’s not
going to get any riper. It
stops once you pick it.”
Vasbinder said he has no
plans of giving up his hobby
anytime soon.
“I have hundreds of cus-
tomers,” Vasbinder said
proudly, noting he sells in
Yorktown, Cuero, and
Nordheim. “It’s a wonderful
way to meet a lot of nice
people. And ‘awesome’ is
the word people are using to
describe this year’s crop.”
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NEWS-VIEWYORKTOWN
Lesson learned
about everyday
eating utensils
By MUSYNG
MOUSE
“Wweeeeeee!” What a
history lesson I've had this
time!
After running across a
display of knives, forks,
and spoons I learned some-
thing I can’t help but share.
Before the 11th century,
nobody used eating uten-
sils. Then in the 11th cen-
tury, a Byzantine princess
used a fork to spear meat
and the church of the day
severely censured her.
They proclaimed that using
utensils was taking the
place of God’s gift of fin-
gers.
At that point, no uten-
sils were used for another
300 years. When utensils
started being used again,
only two-prong forks were
used. You can imagine,
peas and such foods fell
through the prongs.
(Maybe the fork was used
only for hot meats ... don't
know.)
After the 17th century
(1600s), the tines were
increased to three and then
four. The forks I find so
musing in the Yorktown
Historical Museum are
those that have only three
tines or prongs. Forks
were very slow to come
into use in the Americas. It
was in 1852 when a maga-
zine, “The New York
Ladies Indispensable
Assistant,” gave general
advice on eating with a
fork, knife, and spoon.
Thus, it was about 1852
that people actually started
using these utensils on a
daily basis.
I have to conclude then,
that the three prong forks
in the museum are from a
time before 1852. Today, a
collector may pay up to
$179 for such a fork.
Also, I find it very inter-
esting that today there is a
fork available for different
foods. A place setting
might include up to five
different forks for five dif-
ferent foods.
In approximately 1,000
years people went from
eating with their fingers to
eating with as many forks
as five on the table. I seem
to do very well with maybe
two or three. I've never
used five. I do recall in a
nice eating establishment
there was a fork for salad,
for the main course, and
one for the dessert.
Funny, I've had an
“amusing” time over such a
simple thing as a fork.
DECLARATION
Continued from Page 1A
That rain may be all coun-
ty residents will see for at
least a couple of weeks.
According to the Keetch-
Byram Drought Index,
DeWitt County is expected
to see temperatures near or
above 100 degrees the next
two weeks with little chance
of rainfall in the forecast.
A total ban of fireworks
was declared by the county
on June 20, but the annual
Fourth of July fireworks dis-
play at the Cuero Municipal
Park on Monday, July 4 is
still scheduled to be held.
Fowler said he has only
heard positive reactions from
residents concerning the fire-
works ban.
“As of (Thursday) morn-
ing, I have not received any
complaints about imple-
menting the total ban on fire-
works through the Disaster
Declaration from vendors or
the general public.”
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Slavik, Coy. Yorktown News-View (Yorktown, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 50, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 29, 2011, newspaper, June 29, 2011; Yorktown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth627872/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .