There’s nothing like July in Jackson County.

There’s first the anticipation of the arrival of cantaloupes, watermelons, sweet corn and the Jackson County Fair.

Then, slowly, the month progresses and you boil or roast that first ear of yellow, white or perhaps mixed ear of corn.

The butter and salt, of course, the gravy on the kernals. There’s nothing like it in the vegetable world, although of course there’s nothing green about it.

Then, you start asking the produce managers and vegetable stand operators the big question of the month — where are your melons from? They’re used to it. Those really in the know realize you’re not just interested in whether the cantaloupes and watermelons are from Indiana. They know you want to  hear the words “Vallonia” or “Brownstown” or “Jackson County” because we all know that while those melons grown in Davies or Knox counties in southwestern Indiana are good, so much better than the hard, almost inedible melons we must tolerate — or ignore — all through the winter and spring, they still don’t compare to the orange and red delights grown in the sandy soils of Jackson County.

No, they don’t. They can’t. Maybe it’s regional pride, but I don’t really think so, and that’s my story and it’s the story I’m sticking with.

And then, of course, there’s the arrival of the Jackson County Fair, a time when all three of the best — the fair, the melons and corn — all collide. You can enjoy the treats, sights and sounds of the fair, all the while knowing you can pick up a melon or two or three on the way home, with produce stands just a few miles out of the way down one road or another.

What’s your favorite treat of July? The corn? Do you favor cantaloupes over watermelons? Do you like the long, striped melons or those that are squat and dark?

Do you like salt or pepper, or maybe both, on your melons? I like mine plain, thanks, although as a kid I always used salt on watermelon because Pop and Grandpa Davis did.

And what about butter on a roasting ear? How do you spread it? With a knife, fork, fingers, bread or some other method unique to your family?

Surely Alton Brown of The Food Network could devote 30 minutes of his “Good Eats” to these questions if not just on the greater qualities of Jackson County melons.

Hope you enjoy the fair and the good eats that Jackson County has to offer.

Thanks for reading my blog, and thanks for logging on to TribTown.com

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