Organic Food 101: The wondrous watermelon

May 30, 1:16 PMOrganic Food ExaminerNatalie Rotunda

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Now that the garden plot in our back yard has been tilled, we’re adding organic bedding plants to fill it as fast as we can bring them home from the food co-op where we're members. For members and non-members alike, they provide six racks, each having five shelves, of bedding plants that excite that back-to-the-earth gene inside so many of us city-farmerettes. That freedom to grow just what you like is one of the best reasons to home garden, whether the plants grow in a plot, or a pot. 

Yesterday’s pick---baby watermelon. In just a little while, we’ll plant it in its own generous space, then watch it grow into one of the best fruits this side of Heaven. I guess it was the kid in me that plucked that healthy-looking little guy off the rack. Our very own crop of baby watermelons! The little plastic marker stuck up against the side of the potting container informed us that the little darlings should be ripe for harvest in about 73 days. The kid in me says…YIPPEE, CAN’T WAIT! I ask you, what’s better than chomping into a crisp, red slice of juicy watermelon on a hot summer day (or cool days, or wet days, or just any day)?

When you’re a kid, you eat watermelon because it’s a fun food (you’re not the one looking out for healthy foods---moms and dads take care of that). Adults, though…it’s our job to supply those simple, good eats for our loved ones and ourselves.

There’s no better good eats than the wondrous watermelon! It tastes so good, but it’s much more than taste. It’s got naturally-occurring goodness: more lycopene than tomatoes, or any other fruit or veggie we know about, so far. It’s low in sat fat, and, talk about diet-friendly! Only 80 calories, none from fat, in two cups of watermelon. It’s also high in potassium (if your supply of this mineral is low, you might experience leg cramps); plus, watermelon packs generous amounts of Vitamins A, B6 and C. And it offers this bonus for folks dealing with yeast and mold issues: it's hard rind lets you freely eat hardy and healthy.

Though our watermelon won’t be ready to eat on the Fourth of July, it should be ready for the fam when they visit in early August. We’ll no doubt eat the fruit as slices, but, who knows, if the harvest is a bountiful one, we may have to try some of it in recipes. (Check out the ones on this site.)

Seventy-three days seems like it’ll never get here…but when it does, I’ll be headin’ for the wee watermelon patch out back, grab the first one I see, and dig into it!

Here’s hoping you get your fair share of the wondrous watermelon.

(Photo courtesy of the National Watermelon Promotion Board.)