Watermelon - a berry loved by everyone

From July to November people like to eat delicious and sweet watermelons. Now they are grown not only in the south, but even in the Non-Chernozem zone. After all, for their normal ripening is enough two warm months, so they cultivate watermelons even in Siberia.

Watermelon is a berry that belongs to the pumpkin family, but it is rather difficult to grow it. This requires special conditions. For the appearance of sweet fruits, the temperature should not drop below 25 degrees for a long time. The field on which watermelons grow is called melon, but in the Middle Belt and north they are most often cultivated under a film.

The birthplace of watermelon is Africa. And now in the desert there grows its wild variety - colocite. It has small poisonous fruits that are not afraid of any heat. Another species of watermelon that is common in America is citron. But the more well-known watermelon is woolly. It is he who is so loved by many. Now there are a huge number of varieties, differing in size, thickness and color of the peel, density and color of the pulp.

Watermelon - the berry is tender, it does not tolerate transportation. The most delicious and sweet varieties are so thin that they can burst at any touch. Therefore, the breeders try to breed varieties of watermelons that are resistant to "moving" and storage. They have a thick peel, they can be shifted and even thrown, without fearing that the berry will burst. True, these watermelons lose in taste and are very hard to cut.

Most likely, this melon crop came to Russia from Central Asia. Watermelons grew on the Volga in the 11th and 12th centuries. But they spread throughout the country only from the end of the 19th century. Of course, they were adapted to local conditions, but the best watermelons still grow in our southern steppes of the Volga, the Krasnodar Territory, the Azov Sea and the Transcaucasus. They are considered the most delicious and differ in their large size, large seeds and light color with clear stripes.

But watermelon - a berry, loved by many people, can quite grow tasty and much to the north. This, for example, such varieties: "Siberian lights", "Ogonek", "Sugar" and even "Astrakhan" and "Early Kuban". In the middle belt ripen quickly "Skorospelka Kharkivska" and "Medovka". But they should be grown by seedlings and covered with a film when the temperature is lowered.

Watermelon - the berry is rather unpretentious. The conditions of its growth depend on the variety. There are those that become sweet only in hot and dry steppe air, and in conditions of heavy rains they rot and burst. But there are also those who like excess moisture, for example, in Kashmir, berries are grown in hammocks suspended from water and stuffed with moist seaweed.

Watermelon is not only a pleasant taste. Often they are used in folk medicine to reduce swelling and improve digestion. Pulp is used in facial masks that rejuvenate the skin. With watermelon diet can lose weight and cleanse the body of toxins. From the pulp cook honey, and large pieces of skin can even be salted.

Watermelon with a thick skin is well kept until the New Year. But you can increase this time by using a simple method: to wash the fruits well, so as not to damage the skin, dry it, lay it individually in threaded nets and hang it. In this state watermelons can be until spring (just do not forget to periodically check them).