Fruits and Veggies Monday Competition

The Light Green Giant

A few month ago, a couple of friends and I took over a community type garden space. At our first walk through, we noticed a plant growing happily in a walkway. Since it was happy, we let it grow and once in awhile gave it some water.

We are in Southern California, and during the summer, there is no rain. So, we figured if it can survive. Great. If not, no problem.

Pretty soon, little green fruits were forming. The leaves led us to believe that we are either looking at a melon of some kind, or a gourd. The color stayed light green, so we were leaning towards gourd.

Our little plant grew and grew, and we kept tapping it to see if it sounded like a melon. It kind of did.

Last week, we had a heat wave. Temps were going up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and one of the green giants looked it might be ready.

I took it home, and it was heavy. I was curious how much that thing was weighing. So, I stepped on the scale, then took my (big) baby size green globe and stepped back on. Our scale is the kind where you have to move a lever on the top to find the right balance. That was hard holding that thing. I kind of weight it, and can say that it was over 20 lbs.

The Moment of Truth

After a thorough washing, we were ready to cut and end the mystery. A sharp knife, a cutting board and a whole lot of muscle power and we finally knew what was growing for all these months.

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A Yellow Watermelon!!!!

Surprisingly Good!

I loved the way the seeds were so big and in pretty patterns in the melon.

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Removing the Seeds from the Melon

Since the melon tasted so good, we, of course, want to save seeds to be able to grow some more next year. And to share seeds with people coming to our food swaps and gardening classes.

I cut the melon into quarters and started to clean them.

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This slice is ready to be cleaned.

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Ready to be cut into cubes and eaten. Yummy!!!

Seeds

I already mentioned that we wanted to save the seeds for next year's planting. But did you know that water melon seeds are not only edible but also nutritious and delicious?

Yup. Spitting those seeds out is wasting valuable food.

Here is a link to a site with charts of all the nutrients one finds in watermelon seeds

https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Seeds%2C_dried%2C_watermelon_seed_kernels_nutritional_value.html

They are high in fat and high in protein and lots of vitamins and minerals.

Did you know that watermelon seed oil is widely used in Africa? You can buy it in the US as well, but it comes with a pretty price. 4 oz bottles are between $22 or $25. You can buy it here (affiliate) http://amzn.to/2fcFudW

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Pressing your own oil at home might a bit difficult and you have to eat lots of watermelons to make it worth your while. But, there are easier ways to prepare the seeds at home.

Method 1 - Drying

Wash and clean the seeds you removed from the melon. Use a clothes or paper towel to dab them dry.

Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 min. Eat plain, add a little olive oil, salt or other flavorings of your choice.

You can also try to boil the seeds first in water and then bake. The texture will be a bit different.

Method 2 - Sprouting

Soak the seeds overnight in clean water. I use filtered water that removes all impurities including fluoride.

Drain well. Rinse daily, but make sure that the seeds are drained well. Too much moisture can lead to mold and then you have to throw all of them away. After a couple of days, the black outer shell will come off.

Eat the sprouted seeds over your salad, fruit salad or yogurt.

At this stage, you can also dehydrate the seeds for later use.

If you really want to get the full benefit from your melon, you also can pickle or ferment the rinds. But that will be another post

This is my entry to the #fruitsandveggiesmonday The creator is Hive account@lenasveganliving