Posted on 08/03/2023 9:42:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
(Last Updated On: August 3, 2023)
NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY | AUGUST 3
National Watermelon Day on August 3 recognizes the refreshing summertime treat enjoyed at picnics and fairs! And since watermelon is 92% water, it is very satisfying in the summer heat.
#NationalWatermelonDay
This vine-like flowering plant originated in southern Africa. While the word watermelon refers to both the fruit and the plant to botanists, the plant is a pepo. The pepo is a berry with a thick rind and fleshy center. Interestingly, pepos develop from an inferior ovary. They are also characteristic of the Cucurbitaceae, a scientific term for the gourd family.
While the watermelon fruit is loosely considered a type of melon, unlike other melons, it’s not in the genus Cucumis. The smooth exterior usually produces a dark green rind with stripes or yellow spots. Watermelons produce a juicy, sweet interior flesh ranging from deep red to pink. However, sometimes it comes in orange, yellow, or white.
While melon holds plentiful water, wild melons tasted bland and bitter. This clue suggests that desert dwellers likely cultivated the first melon. The seeds and art found in the tombs of Pharoh supply additional clues to the watermelon’s value. tombs of Pharaohs. Over time, cultivation and breeding brought out the better qualities of the sweet and tender fruit we enjoy today.
With proper growing conditions, watermelons grow to enormous sizes. Around the world, competitions award prizes each year for the largest one. The Guinness Book of World Records states that the heaviest watermelon weighed 262 pounds. To learn more refreshing watermelon facts, check out www.watermelon.org.
HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY
While you are celebrating the day, spread the joy! Visit a pick-your-own watermelon patch or pick one up from your local farmer’s market. Then, slice it up and invite the neighborhood over to share. Make a fruit salad or cut it into wedges. What are your favorite watermelon memories? Try these other fun ways to celebrate the day, too!
Host a seed-spitting contest.
Create a new watermelon recipe. You can also share your favorites!
Enjoy watermelon-flavored candies or beverages.
Create a frozen watermelon dessert.
Learn how to pick a ripe watermelon.
Complete a watermelon carving. You know, like pumpkins but sweeter!
Make a Vodka Watermelon Basil Granita.
What recipes will you be trying? Post on social media using #NationalWatermelonDay.
Parents and educators, check out more ways to #CelebrateEveryDay by visiting the National Day Calendar Classroom!
NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY HISTORY
While our research did not uncover the creator and origin of National Watermelon Day, we do offer you many more ways to celebrate fresh fruits and veggies.
Check out these delicious celebrations:
Acorn Squash Day
Peanut Day
Pawpaw Day
Eat Fruit At Work Day
Pumpkin Seed Day
Seedless watermelons come from a hybrid of two types of seeded watermelon that are not compatible genetically........
Every day is watermelon day in the south!
What about National Fried Chicken day?
What’s the point of eating watermelon if you can’t spit seeds?
That is also the single most racist day of the year. Along with all the others.
Seed Savers Moon and Stars Watermelon
Rare Seeds Moon and Stars Watermelon
Watermelon are a good source of potassium!
Do you put SALT on your watermelon?
I do, ecer since I was a small child, but my wife thinks I’m crazy.......................
That said, watermelon tends to run right through me, so I do not have it very often!
For Gardeners! A link to 25 watermelon varieties! 25 of the Sweetest, Juiciest Watermelon Varieties You Can Grow
What about black pepper on cantaloupes?................
When we were dating (14 years ago!) Beau ‘courted’ me with a Moon & Stars watermelon he had grown himself.
I also got 1/4 of a hog, local, handmade wool yarn, seven-year aged cheddar and all the Spaghetti Squash I could eat.
Who could refuse a guy like that? ;)
Sounds like a keeper!>......................
Fancy! Normally we just pass around the blender pitcher, LOL!
When I had my Victorian house in Watertown, I had a renter upstairs. Our ‘deal’ was that whoever got home from work first on Fridays started the blender and we’d have Summertime Happy Hour on the big wrap-around porch.
Good times. :)
A substantial and serious set of courting offerings to assure you he was a good provider and the real deal, topped off with a gift of the Moon and Stars! Most excellent! :)
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