Watermelon salsa is a refreshing and delicious addition to any summer BBQ. Serve with grilled Fish, Chicken, Fritters, Tofu, or Haloumi. This salsa is so quick and easy to make and looks so festive! Watermelon Salsa would be a perfect addition to summer entertaining.
Watermelon Summer Salsa
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Fresh, Vibrant, and refreshing salsa for all your summer BBQs.
Ingredients
1 cup diced Watermelon
1/2 Lime
1/2 cup diced green capsicum
1 TBSP Fresh chopped Mint
Drizzle of olive oil
Sea salt flakes to season
1 small red Chilli
1/4 of a Red Onion
2 TBSP Fresh Chopped Parsley
Instructions
Finely dice the watermelon into small cubes (approx 1/2cm square).
Dice the Capsicum into small cubes.
Finely dice the red onion.
Roughly chop up the fresh Mint and Parsley.
Add the Watermelon, Capsicum, Onion, Parsley, and Mint to a bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil, squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime, add sliced red Chilli and mix to combine.
When ready to serve add Salt Flakes and Edible Flowers (I have used Purple Cornflower petals)
Notes
Make this as close to serving as possible, as the watermelon will let go of a lot of water if prepared ahead of time.
Zucchini Fritters with Haloumi and Watermelon Salsa
This is a seasonal match made in heaven. Summer brings an abundance of Zucchini and delicious mouth-watering Watermelon. Serve these fritters on Nasturtium leaves for a nutritious lunch or with a garden salad for a light refreshing meal on those hot summer nights.
Zucchini Fritters with Haloumi and Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients
3 small-medium Zucchini
1/2 cup flour
1 Egg (optional)
1 tsp Salt
1/4 finely sliced Red Onion (could use shallots or spring onion)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley
1 TBSP chopped fresh Basil (or Chives)
Salt and Pepper
1 small fresh chilli finely sliced
1 packet Haloumi
10-12 Nasturtium leaves (or lettuce leaves) to serve (optional)
Watermelon Salsa
Instructions
Rinse your Zucchini and grate them into a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of ground rock salt (roughly 5-6 grinds) to allow the moisture to extract. Stir through, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes.
Finely chop your Herbs, Onion and Chilli.
After 10 minutes or so place your grated Zucchini in a sieve and squeeze out all the extra moisture.
Then in a clean bowl mix all your ingredients together and season well with salt and pepper.
Heat a pan on medium-high heat with oil. Spoon your mixture into the medium-sized pan and flatten it down a bit. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until crispy brown.
While your fritters are cooking, heat a small pan and fry off your sliced Haloumi until lightly golden.
Allow your fritters to cool slightly and serve on Nasturtium leaves with a slice of Haloumi and a spoon full of Watermelon Salsa.
Notes
Alternatively, serve your Zucchini Fritters with a garden salad and top with Haloumi and Watermelon Salsa for a Light and Refreshing Summer meal.
Watermelon jerky or dehydrated watermelon is a great way to use and preserve your leftover or excess watermelon. Some watermelon can grow to over 25kg! That’s a whole lot of watermelon to eat before it goes to waste. This recipe makes a delicious, chewy, sweet treat and helps stop any precious watermelon from going to waste.
Marinated in fresh mint and lime juice, this watermelon jerky is packed full of delicious summer flavours!
Watermelon, like its name suggests, has high water content. By dehydrating and removing that water content, you are left with a high concentration of natural sugars. This Mojito watermelon jerky recipe helps balance some of that sweetness and adds a delicious and refreshing flavour. When making this recipe you can do some with the marinate and some plain to work out which you prefer.
Mojito Watermelon Jerky
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 1 minute
Naturally, sweet watermelon treats 🍉
Ingredients
1/2 Watermelon
1 Lime
1/2 cup fresh Mint
Instructions
Rinse and finely slice the mint.
Add the juice and zest of one Lime to a bowl and mix through the mint.
Remove the rind and any seeds from the watermelon and slice it into strips roughly 1cm thick. If the strips are too thin they will break apart and be hard to remove from the tray. Too thick and it will take a loooooong time to dehydrate, so I have found around 1cm is a happy medium.
Lay your watermelon strips in a large shallow dish and pour over the lime and mint marinate. Gently turn over to coat. I like to do a mix of some marinated and some plain. Cover your dish and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow the flavours to combine.
Place your watermelon onto your dehydrator trays, ensuring you have a drip tray at the bottom to catch excess juices. I have found it is best to use fruit leather trays or parchment paper otherwise the jerky gets stuck to the metal grids. Dehydrate at 60 degrees Celsius until dry (This will take anywhere from 18-24 hours). To speed up the process, turn your watermelon strips over a few times during the process.
They should not be sticky to touch. The thicker parts that aren't quite dry will be a darker red colour. You may need to remove the dried watermelon and let the thicker slices dehydrate a bit longer. This will take anywhere from 18-24 hours.
Allow to cool and add to a clean, dry, airtight container.
Enjoy! 🍉
Notes
Please note that the Watermelon reduces significantly in size once dehydrated and has concentrated, high levels of sugars. Enjoy 2-3 pieces per serve as a treat or natural confectionary.
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is easy to grow in home gardens and provides large amounts of delicious fruit. Sweet and bursting with juice, watermelons provide us with a delicious and hydrating summer treat. Watermelons grow on a vine and can trail along the ground or can also be grown vertically with extra support for their heavy fruit. This makes them a great addition to any home garden.
Rich compost and composted manure soil. Create soil mounds.
LOCATION
Full sun 6-8+ hours per day.
CARE
Young plants need regular watering.Water at the base to prevent mildew on the leaves.
FERTILISE
Feed every 2-3 weeks with liquid seaweed fertiliser.
PESTS
Mildew in humid climates.Rodents may attack mature fruit.
HARVEST
Late Summer. Usually around 3 months after planting.
REPRODUCE
Save seeds from your best watermelons.
Why Grow Watermelon?
Watermelon is bursting full of sweet, delicious, and hydrating food. Nature’s way of providing us with refreshing and nutritious energy for the long, hot summer days. Although they do need plenty of water to grow abundant crops, watermelon can do well in hot, dry climates.
Here are some of the many reasons to grow Watermelon:
Low maintenance
Drought tolerant
Pest resistant
Creates diversity in the garden
Abundant, sweet, juicy fruit
Can be grown along the ground or vertically
Can be used for sweet or savoury dishes
Make your own garden treats
Hydration
Vitamin C & A
Antioxidants
Animal Feed
Popular Watermelon Varieties
‘Sugar Baby’– Abundant red flesh Heirloom variety. Compact fruit with matte green hard outer skin to prevent splitting. 10-week harvest. 4 Fruit per plant. 3kg per fruit.
‘Moon & Stars’ – Heirloom pinky-red flesh variety with yellow “stars” over the fruit and leaves and one large “moon” speck. Thich skin to prevent splitting. 14- week harvest. 3-4 fruit per plant. 25kg per fruit.
‘Crimson Sweet (War Paint)’ – Very popular with deep red flesh and white paint-like stripes on the skin. 12-week harvest. 10kg per fruit.
‘Candy Red (Charleston Grey) – Heirloom. Large oval fruits with deep red flesh. Light green skin. 15+ week harvest. 15kg fruit.
‘Bush Jubilee’ – Old variety with red flesh and green striped skin. High sugar content. Compact bushy vine, great for small space gardening. 14-week harvest. 5kg fruit.
‘Blacktail Mountain’ – Large round fruit with red flesh. Dark green skin. Extra Sweet. Great for colder climates. 15-week harvest. 4 fruit per plant. 5kg per fruit.
‘Sweet Siberian’ – Heirloom with a green outer skin and sweet orange flesh. Great for colder climates. 10-weeks harvest. 5 fruit per plant. 4kg per fruit.
‘Golden Midget’ – Skin turns yellow when ripe. Sweet red flesh. Prefers warmer climates. 14-week harvest. 7 fruit per plant. 2.5kg per fruit.
How to Grow Watermelon
Watermelon likes a full sun location, with approximately 6-8 hours of sunlight. Plant seeds when daily temperatures start to average 20-25 degrees Celsius per day (less for colder varieties). Watermelon does not like their roots being disturbed. So if possible planting them directly in the ground can be beneficial. Create 30cm high mounds of soil using rich compost and composted manure. Plant your seeds 1 inch deep on the top or plant your seedlings if you have germinated inside.
When to Plant Watermelon
Plant your watermelon seeds from Spring to early Summer. Watermelon can take a while to produce so it is a good idea to get them in the ground early. As soon as temperatures average 20-25 degrees Celcius.
Care/ Maintenance
Young watermelon plants will need regular watering. Especially in the height of summer. The leaves will curl up and notify you that they are too dry. Avoid watering the leaves as this can allow powdery mildew to form. It can be a great idea to put a stick or marker where you plant the seeds. Once the plant is established, it can be hard to see where the main stem and roots are to water correctly. Placing a marker will help you water the correct part of the plant for maximum efficiency. Cover your soil with mulch – pea straw or lucerne can be a great option as it will start to break down and feed your plants.
Feed your plants regularly (every 2 weeks or so) with a liquid seaweed fertiliser for an extra boost of nutrients.
Heavy rain or excess watering when the fruit is nearing maturity, may cause the melon to crack open. Keep an eye on your ripening melons.
Watermelon can also be grown vertically! Especially the smaller fruiting varieties. Plant them near a trellis or frame and move the vines as they grow to latch onto the frame. They have strong tendrils that will hold them in place. Once the fruit starts to form you may need to support the weight so that they do not snap and fall. A mini hammock under the melon using a stretchy, breathable fabric such as a stocking can be useful.
Pollination/ Fruiting
Watermelons require pollination from a male to a female flower to form fruit. If you have plenty of bees in your garden, they should be able to do this for you. If you notice small watermelons forming and then dying off, this may mean you have a pollination problem. This can be aided by using a small paintbrush to dust the pollen of the male flower (single flower with no baby melon forming) to a female flower (flower with a baby melon at the base). This can help boost your success rate and grow more watermelon. Be sure to plant lots more flowers in between your plants to attract the bees if you ever have pollination problems.
Pests / Disease
Watermelon is relatively pest-resistant. They can get some fungal diseases in humid weather. It is important not to wet the leaves to prevent powdery mildew from forming. If you do start to see some powdery mildew, remove the leaves (if it is only a few) or create a spray of 1 part milk to 9 parts water and spray over the affected area. Once the fruits start to mature be aware of rodents or other animals finding your fruit.
How/ When to Harvest
Harvesting watermelon can be tricky! And devastating when you get it wrong (be prepared it may happen from time to time..). Under-ripe watermelon will be bland and lack flavour, whereas, over-ripe watermelon will be floury and granular.
Some ways to determine if your watermelon is ready:
Look for the curly tendrils closest to the watermelon stem. They should turn brown and dry when the watermelon is ready.
A light knock on the watermelon, it should sound slightly hollow when ready.
Carefully roll the melon over and the part that was touching the ground should be turning yellow.
Reproducing
Watermelon seeds are the easiest way to reproduce watermelon. Choose seeds from your best mature melons. Wash off the flesh and allow it to dry before storing it in a cool, dry, dark space. Watermelon can also be grown from cuttings. Do this early in the season otherwise, the vine will not have enough time to produce before the weather gets cold. Cut a 10cm piece of a side shoots off. You want to let the main leader vine grow so do not cut this. Cut just below a leaf as this is where the roots will form. Place in a jar of water until you see some roots form. Then plant it back out into the garden. This is more for a bit of fun as you will get the best crops from direct-sown seeds.
Cooking and Using Watermelon
Watermelon is so delicious eaten fresh but there are many other ways to prepare watermelon to use in both sweet or savoury dishes.
Watermelon Pairs well with: Mint, Lime, Basil, Citrus, Red Onion, Feta Cheese, Coconut, Yoghurt, Almonds, Jalapeno, Haloumi, Ginger
Watermelon ideas:
Fruit salad
Juice
Iceblocks
Salads
“Chips” or “Wedges” with dipping sauce
Fruit kebabs
Watermelon jerky
Grilled watermelon
Cocktails
Serving Bowls using the skin/shell
Cocktails and Mocktails
Carvings
Sorbet
Watermelon Cake
Flavoured Water
Salsa
Fruit leather
Syrup
Preserving the Harvest
Watermelon is best eaten cold and fresh but sometimes we can’t keep up with their generous yields. Dehydrated watermelon is a great way to use up a lot of extra watermelons. Watermelon jerky is extremely sweet and could make a good substitute for natural lollies. Other ways you could preserve your watermelon are Freezing cubes, juicing and freezing cubes or making syrup or chutney.
