Watermelon

Juicy, watery, refreshing watermelon is a crop which can be grown in during hot Canadian summers, as the fruit requires temperatures of over 25°C to flourish.

While cultivated all over the world, watermelon still grows wild in southern Africa, where it originates from.

Fun fact: the heaviest watermelon ever recorded was grown by Christopher Kent, weighing at 350.5 pounds.

Varieties:

There are over 1,200 varieties of watermelon grown across the world, which come in a variety of shapes, colours and sizes.

The most popular, as the seeds have been bred out. These are not a product of genetic modification, just hybridization! They tend to be between 10 to 20 pounds.

  • Queen of Hearts
  • King of Hearts
  • Jack of Hearts
  • Millionaire
  • Crimson
  • Trio
  • Nova
Picnic watermelons are larger, from 16 to 45 pounds. They’re the traditional, green rind and red flesh watermelon.

  • Charleston Gray
  • Black Diamond
  • Jubilee
  • Allsweet
  • Crimson Sweet
Icebox watermelons are small, at 5 to 15 pounds. They are best for feeding one person, or a small family.

  • Sugar Baby
  • Tiger Baby
Yellow or orange watermelons are round, can be seedless or seeded, and have yellow or orange flesh.

Seeded:

  • Desert King
  • Tendergold
  • Yellow Baby
  • Yellow Doll

Seedless:

  • Chiggon
  • Honeyheart

Nutrition

Watermelons are 92% water, so they’re low in calories.

And they have good levels of vitamins A, B6, and C!

Selecting

Pick a firm, symmetrical watermelon without any bruises, cuts or dents.

The underside of the watermelon should have a yellow spot, from where it sat on the ground.

It’ll be heavy! It’s mostly water. If the watermelon seems light, don’t get it.

Storing

Once cut form the vine, a watermelon has a 3 to 4 week shelf life. Take into consideration where it came from!

Whole watermelons don’t need to be refrigerated, but if you bought it cold, you have to keep it cold.

Refrigerate cut up watermelon.

Preparing

Always wash watermelons before cutting and consuming!

Cut it up, juice it, even grill it–there’s tons of different ways to prepare a watermelon.

The whole watermelon, rind included, is edible! Rinds can be stir-fried, stewed, or pickled.

Recipes

watermelon
Seasonal Availability
July to September

Nutrition per 125mL of watermelon (80 g), cubes:

Nutrient Value
Calories 24
Carbohydrates 6 g
Total Sugar 5 g
Total Dietary Fibre 0.3 g
Calcium 6 mg
Iron 0.2 mg
Potassium 90 mg
Magnesium 8 mg
Vitamin C 7 mg

Provided by Health Canada