Is There Any Use for an Unripe Watermelon?

This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 3 months ago by BakerAunt.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

Author

Posts
August 10, 2025 at 6:37 pm #47013
BakerAunt
Participant
I bought a Sugar Baby watermelon at the farmers market yesterday. I eagerly cut into it for dessert tonight, and it is not red but a whitish color, with a bit of pink around the seeds. I will notify the vender, and I took a picture of it. I googled "uses for unripe watermelon," but it is not looking hopeful, especially as most of those recipes assume a pinkish color at the least. It is not sweet and has a slight cucumber taste to it. (Apparently, watermelons and cucumbers are distant cousins.)

Any suggestions? If not, I will throw it behind the shed.

Spread the word
August 10, 2025 at 6:56 pm #47015
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
My grandmother would probably have made watermelon pickles from it. You want the less-ripe part of the melon/rind for that, anyway.
August 11, 2025 at 6:13 pm #47019
BakerAunt
Participant
I've decided their best use will be to dump them behind the shed for the animals to eat. Sigh.

Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.
August 11, 2025 at 9:34 pm #47024
RiversideLen
Participant
That's terrible, BA. Very disappointing.
August 12, 2025 at 1:58 am #47025
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
There is such a thing as a white watermelon though I've never had one, so I don't know what it would taste like, but 'cucumber' probably isn't it.

I grew some Crenshaw melons a few years ago that were ones I'd heard about but never had, we tried one and the rest we left for the critters.
August 18, 2025 at 8:17 pm #47084
BakerAunt
Participant
My husband tells me that even the animals are ignoring the unripe watermelon!
August 19, 2025 at 10:05 pm #47098
RiversideLen
Participant
I'm not surprised, BA! One way to tell if your produce is ready to pick is to see if the animals are starting to show interest in it. Their noses knows!
August 25, 2025 at 7:10 pm #47159
BakerAunt
Participant
Well, some critter did hollow out the rinds, so some animal appears to have deigned to eat it.
August 25, 2025 at 10:16 pm #47162
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
Eventually they'll eat the seeds, if nothing else. That was true even for the Crenshaw melons I grew a few seasons ago. Squirrels really love pumpkin seeds.
August 26, 2025 at 6:57 pm #47167
BakerAunt
Participant
I always put out the pumpkin and squash seeds for the squirrels and chipmunks. They go fast!
Author

Posts