The vitamin-rich and refreshing watermelon is now part of the menu in most countries around the world, either fresh or pickled. For some people in this country it is hard to imagine that this fruit has a thoroughly exotic origin.

The ancestry of the watermelon from the Tsamma melon

The watermelon has its botanical origin in Africa, where the wild form of the Tsamma melon still grows and is also used today. However, this fruit does not have a sweet flesh like the fruit we know to taste sweet. Rather, the pulp of the Tsamma melon tastes rather bitter, so the seeds, which are numerous in the wild form, are roasted in oil or ground into flour and used to bake bread.

The triumph of the watermelon around the world

The foundation stone for today's distribution of the watermelon was laid several centuries ago. At that time, seafarers used the fruit, which kept for a few weeks, and their seeds as food on longer passages. This is how the watermelon got to North, Central and South America. Watermelon cultivation also reached the Orient and Asia via early cultivation areas in Persia and ancient Egypt.

Today's growing areas of the watermelon

The main watermelon season in Central Europe runs from about May to September. During this time, watermelons are harvested in the European growing areas and can be imported comparatively cheaply from the following countries due to the relatively short transport routes:

  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Hungary
  • Turkey

While the larger Crimson Sweet variety is usually only imported from European growing areas due to its high weight of 7 to 15 kilograms, the smaller Sugar Baby variety is now mostly available all year round. She usually comes from one of the following countries:

  • China
  • USA
  • Iran
  • Brazil

If you plant the seeds early, you can also plant watermelons in your own garden. The fruits will ripen in a sunny spot or in the greenhouse in late summer or fall.

tips and tricks

You can tell the right time to harvest watermelons by the fact that a yellow discoloration forms where the fruit rests on the ground.

Category:

Vegetable garden