DIXON — It's an early morning along the Jocko River. Trucks are running; hands are working, picking melons to fill the Dixon farm stand.
"We have 12 row sections. We pick 6 rows at a time. We usually have 6 to 7 people on a team," Dixon Melons co-owner Cassie Silvernale explained.
Montana isn't known for melons. But Dixon is.
"You're not gonna buy another grocery melon and get the same flavor. It's just, period," Cassie stated.
Check out the melon harvest in Dixon:
However, it's not because of the dirt. Many at Dixon Melons say that when Glacial Lake Missoula melted, it took the topsoil with it.
"I mean, from one end of the field to the next, it changes a lot just the soil conditions," Dixon Melons co-owner Faus Silvernale said.
What does help are the hot days and cool nights, plus their location beneath the CSKT Bison Range.
"A little longer growing season even than that end of the valley. It's just the way the mountains are shaped so the cool air doesn't seem to settle in here," Faus said.
Additionally, the effort given in growing melons is what makes the iconic sweet taste.
"I got a good nutrient program. I use AA products. It's advancing agriculture, so I do a lot of foliar. I do a lot of, vertigation underneath the plastic. I also do, you know, a lot of cover cropping, so I do as much as I can with the soil," Faus detailed.
That taste is what makes some become die-hard Dixon fans and the end of summer turns into melon madness.
"Usually in June, I've already got people calling me 'when are they ready?' But typically it's like the second week of August," Cassie said.
If you can't pick up a melon yourself from the Dixon farm stand, you're not out of luck. Dixon Melons is in various farmers markets and grocery stores all across the state.
