Using a food thermometer. Checking the temperature of your cooked meat, poultry, and seafood with a food thermometer is the only reliable way to make sure your food has reached a safe internal cooking temperature.
Planting Watermelons. The ideal date to plant watermelons varies according to the climate of the region. To produce the sugar necessary for sweet fruit, the melons need hot weather. Seedlings should not be transplanted until three to four weeks after the last average frost date in the spring. Starting seed indoors about six weeks before planting gives you a head start when the soil is warm enough.
This summer, I planted my first watermelons. I live in zone 6 up in Pennsylvania, so to get a head start on the growing season, I started my watermelons inside in little peat pots. The seeds I planted did not want to grow, so by the time one actually sprouted, it was the beginning of June.