square watermelons

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Did anyone else see on the news about the square watermelons that are being raised in Japan.They are grown in glass boxes to get the square shape.And are suppost to take up less space in fridge.The price is $82.00 WOW!!! I bout fall off couch when I heard this.Does any one think this will work its way over here(USA)?Sure would help the OLD billfold to sell a couple watermelons for this price.

-- K Smith (smith4994@aol.com), June 16, 2001

Answers

Never hurts to try something new. Remember though, that over there a Big Mac costs ten bucks, so that would mean your watermelons would sell for considerably less over here. Sounds like a fun project though, doesn't it?

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), June 16, 2001.

Square watermelons have been around for a while. Prices have even been over US$100 in Japan. Many other things there have similar outrageous price tags but they still sell. Quite a few have the rationale of the more it costs, the better it must surely be. I'm sure square watermelons would sell for a nice price here in the US in asian marketplaces but I doubt there's much demand either here or in jp. Get some acrylic sheets and epoxy and make a few boxes and try it out.

-- nobody (nothing@nowhere.no), June 16, 2001.

I saw the news item too and thought of the seedless watermelon I ate once. It was flat, barely sweet and had a bitter cucumber aftertaste. I'd rather give up a little space for a short while for a good tasting melon, thanks.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 16, 2001.

If they grew these simply by placing the young plant in a "box" why wouldn't that work here?

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

You can put faces and so forth on them as well at all depends on the shape of the form/box it grows in.

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), June 16, 2001.


I am going to try raising some in my next melon crop using a few old aquaruims and a sunshade to minimize excessive greenhouse effect on the fruit. If nothing else, they will stack nicer at the fruit stand.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 16, 2001.

I seen in some kind of a book of tips, or a magazine or somewhere, where these people were letting there watermelons grow inside of a cinder block. Only the middle was square, not like the japans where theres was totally square. Once they got big enough to harvest they broke the blocks open, and you would have a watermelon that was square in the middle and still round on the ends.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), June 17, 2001.

I saw that and my brain started going about what size of plexiglass box I was going to make! hee hee What a fun idea!

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), June 17, 2001.

Some years ago I saw an ad for vegetable molds. They were in sets of three and would mold a large bell pepper, tomatoe, or squash in the shape of a face - old man old woman and a clown I think. They were in two peices that snapped together. Any one else remember them? What would a smiling tomatoe or a scowling summer squash bring?

-- Lynn (lynnannmb@hotmail.com), June 17, 2001.

a few years ago a friend brought into work a zuccinni with a face on it.said his garden was on an old indian burial ground (he later fessed up).sure would like to know where to get those veggie masks, the kids would sure get a kick out of them.now i'm thinkin' square pumpkins might do pretty good at halloween (specially if they had a face).anybody know where they sell those masks? boy, me an' the kids are gonna have some fun.btw i heard the square watermelons were twice the price of the standard style.............$40.00. FOR A WATERMELON!?

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), June 18, 2001.


One thing about a square melon, it won't be rolling around on the counter while you're trying to slice it!

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 18, 2001.

A tip on all of us with round ones! Instead of cutting the melon in half, then trying to fit the leaking mellon into foil or some such. Cut the top out of it like you do with a pumpkin for carving. Replace the "lid" after you have scooped out all the mellon you need. Of course for backyard watermelon slices, and seed spitting the regualr way is fine. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 18, 2001.

Why not make your own mask like ceramics with the detail inside and set the growing melon in the mask bowl and let gravity do the rest?

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 19, 2001.

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