Keeping Watermelon Fresh

Happy Birthday Big K!

We are SO glad you were born.

(Barack, you too!)

It's the heart of melon time and we've been doing our part

to support watermelon farmers.

We all love it and it's one of the best ways to cool down.

We usually buy the larger melons and have enough to share with neighbors.

Once the melon gets cut up,

it doesn't last that long in the fridge.

How does one keep it from getting soggy and water-logged?

 There's probably a gizmo that can be bought,

but I came up with my own solution.

I simply cut up some small containers that were going to be recycled.

They were placed in the bottom of a quart-sized jar.

I like to cube up and store our melon in jars,

so that we can see how much we have left.

(I prefer glass jars for most things, in fact,

and if I can figure out how to substitute using even this bit of plastic, I will.

Like many folks, we are working on decreasing our dependence on plastic.)

 The cut plastic pieces were placed in the bottom of the jar,

snug enough to cause the middle part to be raised just a bit.

(This idea is similar to the little plastic disk

that keeps the pizza from sticking to the top of the box.)

 With the melon on top of the "bridge",

the liquid can drain to the bottom of the jar,

keeping the watermelon on top crisp and juicy.

This has made our melon last longer,

so that we can actually finish the whole thing!

This can be used with other melons too.

The chooks get the rinds,

but they don't need any gizmos.

They eat it up so fast, it doesn't have a chance to get soggy!

In case you do have more watermelon than you can eat,

try this delicious and refreshing drink:

Watermelon Lemonade

8 C watermelon

1/2 C lemon juice

1/2 C sugar (or honey)

2 C water

Add the watermelon to a blender

or food processor and whiz until liquified.

Strain with a sieve.

Add all ingredients to jar or juice container.

Mix well.

What's your favorite type of summer melon?

Here's a past post about cutting up watermelon:

Watermelon Pops