The Watermelon Way

From picture-perfect fruit salads and seed-spitting contests to fresh juices and festive rind bowls, watermelon splashes across our summer like a puppy in waves at the beach. Delight with us—and KP—as we share sweet somethings about a fave fruit of the summer.

The Current Pickle

Seeded or seedless?

People prefer fewer of the hard black seeds in their watermelon (despite our love of seed-spitting contests), so ever since the Japanese figured out how to make seedless varieties over fifty years ago, seeds have exited the grocery store. The seedless varieties are the result of mighty-cool in-field, bee-driven genetic artistry:

TLDR: Your watery mule is NOT less nutritious, NOT genetically modified (GMO), and NOT even more or less sweet than its seeded half-sister. It’s just that those white seeds in it are infertile, which prevents them from turning into black seeds. Our Pickle push: go wild with watermelon varieties at your local market and decide for yourself what you love! 😜 🍉

And if you find yourself with a seeded variety, do not despair as seeds are mighty nutritious and pack a mean punch o’ protein! You can turn those seeds into tea, sprout them, or roast them.

On that note, use the whole fruit regardless if it has black seeds or not: there are dozens of ways to also use the rind, flesh, and seeds—and a recipe contest for your creations! Don’t forget to share with us, too! We love us some #nofoodwaste inspo.

Let's continue to paint our watermelon watercolor by number:

44: States in the US that grow watermelon, with California, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Arizona leading production (watermelons need 70°F+ consistently to grow to maturity in 2-3 months). Pickle challenge: find a watermelon farm near you—bonus points if you visit and pick your own!
67: Percentage of global watermelon production that China grows. The US grows less than 1%. All the more reason to support your local farmer!
92: Percentage of water in watermelon: along with strawberries, these two fruits are at the top of the water content charts. Reaching for watermelon after a day at the beach or an intense workout is not only delicious but is encouraged by science...it may hydrate your body twice as effectively as a glass of water.
1200: Number of varieties of watermelon, many of which have rapper names like Sugar Baby, Extazy, and Yellow Doll. 😎 Legit!

What’s the Dillio with Picking A Watermelon?

No matter what variety of watermelon you choose, there are a few things to keep in mind when seeking out stellar sweetness:

Look for the spot where the watermelon rested on the ground while it grew. Pale yellow or cream = ripe; pale green or white = not.
The skin should look dull or matte, not shiny. Shiny usually indicates under-ripe.
It should smell slightly sweet, but not overly sweet, which usually indicates over-ripeness.
Some suggest you tap/knock/rap on the underbelly; listen for a hollow sound vs a dull sound. Others say this approach doesn’t work for them so use in combo with the previous suggestions!

Once you get that perfect baby home, you’ve got quite a few options for getting into it.

You could go cubes, triangles, or long and tall soldier boys, or
insert a coat hanger or immersion blender into the watermelon to create a cup of cool watermelon juice and bypass chewing entirely!

How do you do watermelon? Tag us @picklesocial—social links down below👇—and let us know!