More on watermelons

 I’m learning a lot about watermelons. To review, I grew 2 giant watermelons and three smaller ones. The first giant watermelon weighed 41.4 pounds and was mealy and overripe in the middle. The second melon, one of the small ones, was also overripe, but not as badly. I figured they were all overripe, but I cut another one of the small ones and it was perfect! Firm flesh right up to the center.

A perfect watermelon

Yesterday I had an hour in the afternoon and planned to make juice of the second enormous melon. This one weight a paltry 38.4 pounds. I made a slit with a knife, and juice POURED out. I tipped the melon up to stop the flow, grabbed a towel and wiped the counter, cutting board, cabinets, and floor.

Working on the assumption that there was a small amount of free fluid in the melon, I wrestled the melon cut side down into a bowl to let it drain. When it seemed like no more juice was coming out, I cut the melon in half while it was still in the bowl. I noticed too late that the entire center of the melon was liquified. Seconds later, the two halves of the melons separated; the halves fell out of the bowl, AND the bowl tipped. A tsunami of melon juice went everywhere. I put the melon back in the bowl and took it outside, which is where I should have been from the get-go. The should-haves don’t count. The hour I planned to use making juice was spent cleaning the kitchen.

38.4 pound watermelon with nothing but juice in the middle

Watermelons are native to Africa. Seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs. I had heard that they were bred for their water content and that they were carried across deserts as a source of water. I assumed that they got the water from eating the melons. It would seem, however, that they would only have to let the melon mature, drill a hole in the side and pour out the juice. Wikipedia says that watermelons were stored as a source of fluid during dry seasons. Unlike cantaloupe, the rind is hard enough to prevent bugs from burrowing in with their loads of bacteria and fungi. In theory, the inside of the melon would be sterile and be safe to eat/drink indefinitely. Ancient watermelons may have been even more robust if they were stored from the wet season to the dry. Amazing.

We are getting one blue (Americauna) pullet egg on most days. The Dominiques, as far as we can tell, have not started laying. The roosting segregation is breaking down somewhat. I took this picture last night. The first photo is the east side, where five of the six pullets are roosting with one of the Wyandott hens (right side of the group). Two hens were in the middle.

Left to right: 5 pullets, 1st Wyandott hen, 1st Americauna hen, 2nd Wyandott

On the west side, one Dominique pullet is sitting on the top of the ladder next to two of the hens. I’m taking this a progress. The hens are getting somewhat better at sharing the treats that we throw over the fence.

West side, left to right: 1st Americauna, 2nd Wyandott (as above), Dominique, 2nd Americauna, 3rd Wyandott

I didn’t plan my raised beds as well as I should have. The Brussel sprouts are the last things to be harvested, and I planted them in a bed that we usually include in the chicken run for dust bathing. When we moved the girls to their winter quarters, I had to exclude to the raised bed. It is obvious that I should have left a bit more space between the fence and the Brussels sprouts. The chickens have eaten everything they could reach on the stalk that was leaning toward the fence.

The Brussels sprout leaning to the left is definitely hen-pecked.

The sprouts have not done well this year, and I don’t know why. They never got very tall and therefore did not have many sprouts per stalk. Also, many of the sprouts are not as tight as they need to be to keep out fungus, slugs, cabbage worms, and other wee beasties. We are getting enough to meet our needs, but I have to throw a lot of them out. There’s always next year. (Which is also what I’m thinking as I watch the Bears game….)