In This Issue
• It’s Watermelon Mania Time
• Take a Quiz (about the origins of watermelon)
It’s Watermelon Mania Time
Last Tuesday (August 10), I posted an article about the rising number of farmers who are providing home delivery, supplementing the access to local food provided by our region’s many farmers markets. The article featured an eight-pound cantaloupe that was delivered to my apartment by Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee, Illinois.
Shortly after that article ran, I got an email newsletter from Three Sisters Garden that contains even bigger melon news. And by that I mean even bigger melons… namely watermelons. I literally doubled down on the cantaloupe when I ordered the watermelon that arrived this morning, which clocked in at a hefty 16 pounds.
I started buying watermelons from Three Sisters Garden when they were a fixture at Green City Market. Their pivot to home delivery in 2020 — initially prompted by the COVID-caused restrictions that hindered getting product to customers — became permanent. I am grateful not only because it’s super-convenient, but also because it reduces the risk of a hernia from hauling a giant fruit around and home from a farmers market.
Of course, a 16-pound melon wouldn’t be worth the time or money if it didn’t taste great. The first good sign came when I cut it in half. Look at that beautiful bright red color. Melons with blah flavor don’t often have that bold a color.
And that turned out to be predictive. Like any good fruit butcher, I performed quality control, and this mega-melon is as sweet and juicy and delicious as can be.
So what does a 16-pound melon look like cut up?
Yes, I admit, that’s a lot of watermelon for a two-person household. But I’m pretty creative. Along with cooling off with big bowls of this stuff, I envision watermelon granita. Watermelon feta salad. Watermelon daiquiris. Watermelon ice cubes (puree watermelon, pour into an ice cube tray, then plop into a drink and let the magic happen).
BTW, I think it is altogether possible that King Arthur, as a boy, actually extracted the sword Excalibur from a giant watermelon, and his PR people change it to a stone because it made him sound more powerful. Just speculation, but prove me wrong.
Take a Quiz
The sweet dessert watermelon that we know originated on what continent?
a) Europe
b) Asia
c) Africa
d) North America
Answer: c) Researchers have determined that watermelons originated in northeastern Africa. According to an August 2015 article in the Annals of Botany:
Archaeological remains of watermelons, mostly seeds, that date from 5,000 years ago have been found in northeastern Africa. An image of a large, striped, oblong fruit on a tray has been found in an Egyptian tomb that dates to at least 4,000 years ago. The Greek word pepon, Latin pepo and Hebrew avattiah of the first centuries CE were used for the same large, thick-rinded, wet fruit which, evidently, was the watermelon. Hebrew literature from the end of the second century CE and Latin literature from the beginning of the sixth century CE present watermelons together with three sweet fruits: figs, table grapes and pomegranates. Wild and primitive watermelons have been observed repeatedly in Sudan and neighbouring countries of northeastern Africa.
Along with being delicious, watermelon is a healthy treat. It gets its red color from the anti-oxidant lycopene, and has lots of vitamins C and A, among other nutrients.