Hermiston’s watermelon crop is hanging in there despite being pounded by a record-breaking heat wave.

“Overall, they’re holding up pretty well,” said Jack Bellinger of Bellinger Farms, describing himself as “cautiously optimistic.”

He said Tuesday, June 29, that he had just gotten done checking half his watermelon fields — and he was pleased with what he saw. They might have to start picking their earliest fields sooner than expected, he said, but the heat and drought haven’t been as detrimental to watermelons as they have been to some crops.

“Luckily watermelons are desert plants,” he said. “They originated in the Middle East, so they do pretty well in the heat.”

Scientists believe watermelons originated in northern Africa, specifically.

Hermiston’s soil composition, as well as its hot days and cool nights, helps create an ideal mix of conditions for the sugary, juicy watermelons Hermiston is famous for. While the nights haven’t been as cool in the past week, with a hotter-than-usual June, Bellinger said he is looking forward to testing the sugar content of this year’s crop soon.

Bellinger Farms also grows a variety of other crops, including some being harvested now, so Bellinger said during the extreme heat workers have been starting earlier, with most coming in around 5 a.m.

“Some of my irrigators start at 3,” he said.