Over in phouka’s very sad thread I reminded myself of the solid green watermelons that were common when I was a kid. I haven’t seen any of those for a very long time, so I did a search. No pictures of the melons I remember! I suspect a conspiracy, but that’s another matter.
These melons were the same general size and shape (oval, not round) as the striped ones we see now, but were a solid dark green. And sweeter, with a much redder “meat”. When the striped ones showed up, we called them “Texas” melons. We never saw them in the many melon fields in the Bakersfield area until much later. People said they were longer lasting and better for shipping.
My question; does anyone else remember these solid green melons, and are they still grown anywhere?
Peace,
mangeorge
There are a TON of watermelon varietes. Heritage melons are a very big deal now - I get some seed catalogs with ten or more pages just of kinds of watermelon. They come in every possible melon configuration.
Sure, I remember those. Maybe they’re Charleston Grays. Check’em out here at Burpee’s.
Basically, those melons were pushed out of the marketplace because the striped ones survive transporting & warehousing better – less susceptible to damage, and last a bit longer in storage.
Rather like grocery store tomatoes. Luckily, in watermelons, the striped ones still taste pretty good. (Unlike tomatoes, where the grocery store ones are not worth eating, in my opinion!)
If you want those old, ‘heritage’ watermelons, go to a local Farmers Market, rather than a big grocery store.
Were they Sugar Babies?