It's a county well known for its apples and pears but from this week Herefordshire will have a new claim to fame – as the home of English watermelons.

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Home-grown Watermelons go on sale for the first time on Thursday in Tesco supermarkets, supplied by S&A Produce, one of the UK's largest suppliers of strawberries and a long-term supplier to the supermarket. The UK first is also a personal triumph for 19-year-old agriculture student Joe De Pascalis.

Earlier in the year Joe had bet his boss at S&A that he could produce first rate watermelons. Challenge accepted, Joe was allowed to attempt growing the melons. Seeds were sown in May, and the fruit was harvested earlier this week.

Joe, who lives in Leominster, said, "I'm studying production horticulture and as part of my apprenticeship I have to demonstrate that I can grow produce from start to finish, overseeing every part of the process. Growing watermelons had never been done before on the course so I had to get special permission not only from the college but also from my boss here at S&A Produce to let me have a go. When he agreed I jumped at the chance.

"The watermelons have been like babies to me throughout the 90 day growing programme and I've personally tended to them three times a day to make sure they were getting just the right amount of feed."

Joe also took the opportunity to discuss the green credentials of his watermelons, which only needed artificial heating at the germination stage; this came from a biomass woodchip burner which significantly reduces the carbon footprint of other heating methods. Once planted, they received no additional heating.

The melons are standard size, weighing between one and three kilos each. A Tesco spokesperson said the melon growing was just a trial, but if the UK-grown melons are well received, the supermarket will work with growers to source more next year.

The watermelons will go on sale locally in Hereford as well as in Royston, Hertfordshire, priced at £2 each.

Farming groups have recently lamented the UK's poor self-sufficiency, which is especially low for fruits. Just above ten percent of the fruit consumed in Britain is grown here.