Happy Watermelon Ending
Hi friends! Just wanted to share a happy ending to the garden tots’ watermelon saga!
The time has finally come… where we are ready to harvest our very FIRST watermelon. If you follow us on Instagram you might know our story. I also dedicated a post to our watermelon roller coaster, which you can find here…
Our Watermelon journey:
- We started 12 watermelon seeds back in May 2020
- We were able to transfer 6 successful seedlings
- The vines grew like crazy!! Everything looked super lush and green… but it took awhile to see yellow flowers
- Fast forward a couple of months and we saw some yellow flowers, but nothing else for what felt like forever
- 90 days later we have our first fruit sighting (beginning of August)
- Then the fruits grew incredibly fast – like one inch every day!! It was insane to see the progress in just one week
- A few more baby melons came, but died off… leaving us with about 7 strong watermelons
- Then we lost 4 (almost full-size melons) for TBD reasons… that was sad
- Leaving us with 3 winners!
3 WAYS TO KNOW WHEN A WATERMELON IS READY...
1. THE TENDRIL CLOSEST TO THE WATERMELON TURNS FROM ALL GREEN TO ALL BROWN
2. The field spot, where it rests on the ground... turns from a bright white, to a yellow-cream color
3. When you thump on the melon it sounds hollow
OUR HAPPY ENDING
We finally harvested our first watermelon on September 18, 2020.
136 days from the day it was started from seed. This was definitely longer than we thought (or at least longer than the seed packet quoted)… but I would say it was worth it!
I didn’t do anything fancy… I just snipped it with kitchen scissors and we took it inside to wash and weigh. The first watermelon weighed a whopping 17lbs 4.5oz. I feel like a proud new mom haha!
Then we were able to repeat the process a week later with watermelon number two! It passed the above criteria for ripeness!
- Brown, dried tendril
- Yellow field spot
- And when thumped, it sounded hollow.
Check. Check. Check 😉
This guy was not as big as the first one. He weighed in at 13lbs 8oz! We gifted it to family, so unfortunately I didn’t get to taste it… BUT I was told it was the best watermelon they ever had. It was definitely made with love.
nEXT TIME i GROW wATERMELONS i WILL:
- Start seeds earlier, perhaps in April
- Transfer everything to the ground, preferably on a hill (if possible)…I actually think I will dedicate a section of my garden for the watermelons since the vines grow so long! It will be nice to “contain” everything
- Do research on best fertilizers for watermelons (I didn’t do any fertilization and I wonder if that would have sped things up)
- Plant pollinator-attracting flowers to encourage the bees
- Water like crazy
- Plant in full sun
- Be patient
WATERMELON RECIPES
Now I would like to leave you with two watermelon recipes
you can enjoy! Just in case you’re looking for something a little extra beyond delicious
plain watermelon.
Watermelon Feta Salad Recipe
This one is super simple! It’s literally just the two ingredients found in the title. But it’s life changing, haha! These flavors compliment each other so well.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh watermelon cubes
2 cups fresh feta cheese
Directions:
Mix above ingredients together in a bowl, enjoy!
Medical Medium Watermelon Slushy
You can read the great benefits about this drink from his website.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh watermelon cubes
2 cups frozen watermelon cubes
1 lime, juiced
Directions:
Blend the fresh and frozen watermelon together with the lime juice until smooth. Serve and enjoy!
Tip: Adjust the iciness of the slushy by substituting more fresh watermelon in place of frozen if you desire a less frosty beverage.