Sanger produce stand draws crowds with nine kinds of watermelon

Shoppers in Sanger are heading to McCall Avenue for a watermelon stand that turns a familiar summer staple into a small-scale spectacle. Dicky Don Produce is selling nine kinds of watermelon, with bright yellow and orange melons drawing the biggest double takes. The draw is simple: the fruit is picked fresh, the colors are unusual, and the season moves fast.

The line on McCall Avenue

Dicky Don Produce sits at 2775 N McCall Ave., south of Ashlan Avenue in east Fresno County, where more than 200 people lined up for opening day on June 6. The stand has become a destination rather than a quick roadside stop, especially when customers show up with carts and leave with 20-pound watermelons. The family uses Instagram, Facebook, and Nextdoor to let people know what is ready, which helps turn a farm stand into a live summer market.

Why nine kinds pull people in

The headline number is not just marketing. The stand offers nine watermelon varieties, and crews rise before dawn to pick them so the melons can reach shoppers while they are still at their best. That early start is part of what separates the stand from supermarket produce: the fruit is harvested locally, handled by the family, and sold in the same short stretch of summer when the flavor is at its peak.

The yellow and orange surprise

The first thing many buyers notice is color. Bright yellow and orange watermelons are the kinds of fruit that make people stop, look twice, and ask what they are seeing before they even ask the price. Jessie Allen says watching that reaction is one of the best parts of the job, and Robert Allen says the orange-flesh melon does not fully make sense to some shoppers until they cut it open.

The familiar melons still on the table

The stand does not rely only on novelty. Cracker Jack and Black Jack are part of the lineup, giving regular watermelon buyers something familiar to anchor the display even as the unusual colors pull in first-time customers. That mix matters because it keeps the stand useful for more than curiosity shopping, letting families choose between a known summer melon and a variety that tastes and looks different enough to become the conversation at the picnic table.

Specialty melons widen the basket

Yellowjacket, de Sappo, and Hami extend the selection beyond the best-known watermelon names. The stand also sells other specialty melons, turning one roadside stop into a broader seasonal produce run for people building a basket from local fruit and vegetables. In Fresno County, where summer produce is a weekly ritual for many families, that variety gives the stand a place in the season beyond watermelon alone.

Reading a ripe watermelon

Robert Allen offers shoppers a practical guide that works whether they are buying one melon or loading a truck bed. Tap the melon and listen for the right pitch, then check for a yellow spot to judge ripeness. Those are the kind of simple tests that make a family stand feel different from a grocery shelf, because the buyer can still use a little local know-how instead of trusting a barcode and a shipping date.

The Dicky Don family name

The business name comes from Richard, the family grandfather whose nickname, Dicky Don, became the stand’s identity. Robert Allen is his son, and Richard is still working on the farm at 85, which gives the operation a rare kind of continuity. Jessie Allen says that example keeps the family motivated, and it helps explain why the stand feels less like a seasonal pop-up and more like a living piece of Sanger farm history.

Fourth of July brings the peak

The busiest time of year comes around Fourth of July weekend, when watermelon demand peaks and the stand fills out its tables with heirloom tomatoes, Armenian cucumbers, corn, cabbage, and snap peppers. That holiday stretch is when the short local harvest window matters most, because shoppers want fruit that is cold, sweet, and ready now, not something that has spent days moving through a chain of warehouses. The timing gives families a reason to make the trip while the melons are at their best.

A bigger business behind the stand

The crowd in front of the stand reflects more than a good weekend. Family sales have more than doubled over the last three years, and the melon business also reaches retail under the JA17 Allen Family Farms label. Westside Produce and Classic Fruit promoted that label in 2025 as a nod to the family’s legacy, while Blue Book Services said the Allen family’s melon harvest was starting strong that year with cantaloupes and honeydews reaching retail. In Sanger, the stand may be the most visible part of the business, but it is only one part of a much larger family operation built on speed, labor, and a season that does not last long.