Watermelon Facts...

[connecticut yankee]

Piece of watermelon
Mr Misterio2 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

DID YOU KNOW:

1. Watermelon crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to North America with African slaves?

2. During the Civil War the Confederate Army boiled down watermelon as a source of sugar and molasses?

See: https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Watermelon.pdf

 

[Deleted User CS]

Thanks for posting this interesting information which I shall enjoy as I am eating my watermelon just purchased this afternoon. David.

 

[Jimklag]

One watermelon fact I'm aware of. Washington Parish, Louisiana, is famous for its watermelons and I can vouch for their awesomeness. When my in-laws were alive, we used to put a few in the trunk every summer and bring them back to Chicago.

 

[JOHN42768]

DID YOU KNOW:

1. Watermelon crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to North America with African slaves?

2. During the Civil War the Confederate Army boiled down watermelon as a source of sugar and molasses?

See: https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Watermelon.pdf

Now that is quite an article. Lot's of informative things most everyone would never know.

 

[mobile_96]

2. During the Civil War the Confederate Army boiled down watermelon as a source of sugar and molasses?

I've read that on some plantations, when land was held back to recover, watermelons were planted in large quantities and were also boiled down for sugar for use on the plantation.

 

[donna]

A few watermelon facts for today.

 

[DixieRifles]

1. Watermelon crossed the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to North America with African slaves?

We had an older Indian student in our dorm. My roommate like to brag on Mississippi, so the Indian chap asked him--- "Name one item that Mississippi has that you can't find anywhere else."
My roommate's answer was, of all things: "Watermelons".
The Indian laughed and said: "They grow watermelons ALL over the world."

 

[Steph-GB]

ooo I love watermelon! luckily my kids aren't a huge fan of melons.. so more for me haha!

 

[donna]

August is watermelon month. Thought look for threads that been added on them.

How to tell if watermelon is ripe. This information from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

" 1. the green color becomes dull.
2. On a striped melon, the color between the stripes gets darker.
3. The rind will get hard.
4. The blossom end will soften.
5. They will stop getting larger.
6. The ground spot will turn from white to yellow.
7. The end of the main vine nearest the fruit may start to crack or turn brown.
8. The curly tendril on the main vine, closest to the fruit, will turn brown."

Old timers swear that they know one is ripe just by rapping it with a knuckle. The sound should be low pitched, hallow and deep like a drum.

There is nothing like a good watermelon. As Mark Twain wrote "When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the angels eat."

 

[bankerpapaw]

One watermelon fact I'm aware of. Washington Parish, Louisiana, is famous for its watermelons and I can vouch for their awesomeness. When my in-laws were alive, we used to put a few in the trunk every summer and bring them back to Chicago.

Hope, Arkansas has some great watermelons. Hope has the Watermelon Festival every year.

 

[Mike Serpa]

August is watermelon month. Thought look for threads that been added on them.

How to tell if watermelon is ripe. This information from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

" 1. the green color becomes dull.
2. On a striped melon, the color between the stripes gets darker.
3. The rind will get hard.
4. The blossom end will soften.
5. They will stop getting larger.
6. The ground spot will turn from white to yellow.
7. The end of the main vine nearest the fruit may start to crack or turn brown.
8. The curly tendril on the main vine, closest to the fruit, will turn brown."

Old timers swear that they know one is ripe just by rapping it with a knuckle. The sound should be low pitched, hallow and deep like a drum.

There is nothing like a good watermelon. As Mark Twain wrote "When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the angels eat."

A farmer in California trained his dog to sniff out when the watermelons were ripe for picking. It was a melon-collie!

 

[John Winn]

Well, I've always been a cantaloupe man myself but will eat a good piece or two of watermelon. And something I learned in college is that you can inject vodka into the melon and nobody will know you are having a solid cocktail.

 

[major bill]

As my dad neared retirement he bought 10 acres so he could have a garden. I think he missed his childhood on the farm. The end result was he had watermelons, too many watermelons. He still worked six days a week and when the watermelons were ripe he dropped off two everyday on his way to work. While I guess I like watermelons as much as the next guy, twelve per week was a lot. Same with 20 zucenes or three bushels of tomatoes per week. Don't get me started on a bushel or two of potatoes, a bushel of cucumbers, and two gallons of popcorn per week.

My wife should have taken up canning. I cared for my dad and never told him it was too much.