Uses for Citron watermelons

November 5, 2019

I grew a Red-seeded Citron watermelon plant in 2015 (the seed came from Baker Creek). I grew it with black plastic, and added potassium sulfate, basalt rockdust, rock phosphate and stuff. We got about 17 fruits from it. I didn't really figure out what to do with them all, but they kept in storage for a really long time. They were a great water chestnut replacement in stir fry, though. Baked, they tasted like squash with the texture of baked apples. Raw, they were unique and almost cucumber-ish, with a new texture.

Anyway, I got some volunteers last year. I think they crossed with a regular watermelon, since the fruits didn't keep long by comparison, and the flesh was softer. Plus, they didn't get a lot of fruit, and they weren't as big.

This year, I got another volunteer (from 2015 seeds, again). The plant grew huge, in poor soil, and produced 29 fruits before it froze! Three weren't mature enough to use, though. These look like the fruits in 2015, and are firm like those, but they smell more like regular watermelon.

Anyway, I decided to make watermelon crisp with some of them, this year, and it worked very well. Use a mock apple pie or crisp recipe (such as you would use with zucchini). I use brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and citric acid to get the apple pie taste. So, I'm glad to finally have a use for them that uses a substantial amount of the flesh. If you make preserves, you'd probably do well to use similar ingredients as I used for the watermelon crisp filling. Just adding sugar is not enough.

The watermelon crisp needs to be baked longer than apple crisp if you want it to be very soft, since it's a lot firmer than apples are when cooked the same length of time.

What do you do with your Citron watermelons?

Note: This tip isn't for regular watermelon. Citron watermelons are pretty hard by comparison, and they are not sweet at all. You use the flesh for the watermelon crisp—not the rind. Citron watermelons have a lot of pectin in them.

The volunteers were not grown with black plastic. The volunteer last year was in more compacted soil. We didn't give the volunteers anything, except water for the one this year.

November 6, 2019

Here's a bowl of the watermelon crisp that I'm eating now. I think it tastes even better now that it's refrigerated.

November 5, 2019	#1
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	Uses for Citron watermelons I grew a Red-seeded Citron watermelon plant in 2015 (the seed came from Baker Creek). I grew it with black plastic, and added potassium sulfate, basalt rockdust, rock phosphate and stuff. We got about 17 fruits from it. I didn't really figure out what to do with them all, but they kept in storage for a really long time. They were a great water chestnut replacement in stir fry, though. Baked, they tasted like squash with the texture of baked apples. Raw, they were unique and almost cucumber-ish, with a new texture. Anyway, I got some volunteers last year. I think they crossed with a regular watermelon, since the fruits didn't keep long by comparison, and the flesh was softer. Plus, they didn't get a lot of fruit, and they weren't as big. This year, I got another volunteer (from 2015 seeds, again). The plant grew huge, in poor soil, and produced 29 fruits before it froze! Three weren't mature enough to use, though. These look like the fruits in 2015, and are firm like those, but they smell more like regular watermelon. Anyway, I decided to make watermelon crisp with some of them, this year, and it worked very well. Use a mock apple pie or crisp recipe (such as you would use with zucchini). I use brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and citric acid to get the apple pie taste. So, I'm glad to finally have a use for them that uses a substantial amount of the flesh. If you make preserves, you'd probably do well to use similar ingredients as I used for the watermelon crisp filling. Just adding sugar is not enough. The watermelon crisp needs to be baked longer than apple crisp if you want it to be very soft, since it's a lot firmer than apples are when cooked the same length of time. What do you do with your Citron watermelons? Note: This tip isn't for regular watermelon. Citron watermelons are pretty hard by comparison, and they are not sweet at all. You use the flesh for the watermelon crisp—not the rind. Citron watermelons have a lot of pectin in them. The volunteers were not grown with black plastic. The volunteer last year was in more compacted soil. We didn't give the volunteers anything, except water for the one this year. Last edited by shule1; November 5, 2019 at 04:10 PM.