August 31 marks the deadline for the first National Watermelon Carving Contest and I wanted to send out one last reminder to send those entries in!

To recap, I’m looking for your best looking watermelon basket. Nothing fancy, just whatever you come up with. Send me a photo of your finished carving AND a photo of you with the carving to watermelonexperts@gmail.com. I haven’t received a TON of entries yet, which means the chance of your entry being named one of the four finalists and winning the grand prize is pretty good. (Seriously.)

What’s the grand prize, you ask? It’s the “Ultimate Watermelon Carving Kit”! Check it out here and feel free to check out more complete contest rules here. Good luck!

UP NEXT: Spotted in the grocery store

Just checking in to see how everyone’s watermelon carvings are coming for the National Watermelon Carving Contest. If you’re not familiar with the contest, here’s a recap in 50 words or less:

Carve a watermelon basket (nothing fancy, maybe something like this). Send photos to watermelonexperts@gmail.com before August 31. I’ll pick four of the best. Readers will check them out and pick their favorite here on the blog in August. The winner will receive a prize which will be announced next week. Official rules can be found here.

By now, you should at least have an idea of what type of basket you want to carve. If not, don’t sweat it, just check out some of the designs on the National Watermelon Promotion Board website for inspiration.

As some of you might know, July is National Watermelon Month. As national food months go, National Watermelon Month, for me, is right up there with National Meat Month (January), National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month (November) and National Ice Cream Month (also July… yes, July will be a good month).

To celebrate National Watermelon Month, I’ve decided to use the What About Watermelon blog to host the “National Watermelon Carving Contest.” The rules are pretty simple and the prize is pretty nice, too (but more on that later… maybe).

All you need to do, between now and August 31, is send me photos of your  best watermelon carving. And when I say “carving,” I don’t mean those amazingly intricate carvings you’ve seen online. I’m talking about carved and hollowed out watermelons in the shape of cars, animals or just plain baskets and used to hold fruit salad. Sort of like the one above or  the one I made and wrote about previously on What About Watermelon.

Tips and ideas for carvings (feel free to make one of these) can be found on the National Watermelon Promotion Board website. At the end of August I’ll choose the four best carvings and post them here on What About Watermelon for a public vote in early September.

And now the good part. The winner of EACH category, as determined by the votes of watermelon fans across the nation, will receive… a very cool prize that I still need to figure out (anyone have any ideas?). Not bad for a little bit of work with your favorite fruit, huh? Throughout July and August, I’ll post reminders about the contest and some carving tips. The rest is up to you!

SEMI-OFFICIAL RULES

1. All carvings must be original creations, carved either by the person submitting the entry or with a little help from friends and family.

2. All entries must be accompanied by TWO photos: One photo of the finished carving (a few different photos from different angles is preferred) and one photo of the finished carving with the person submitting the entry. This part is important, so don’t forget to get both photos!

3. All entries must be emailed to watermelonexperts@gmail.com before midnight on August 31.

4. Have fun! This part is also important. It doesn’t matter what your finished carving looks like; just send the picture,  because it might be one of the final four chosen by me or an honorable mention featured here on the blog!

As part of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010, I promised myself that I’d enter a watermelon seed spitting contest this year and I intend to keep that promise, even if means hosting a neighborhood contest in my backyard this summer (though I’d prefer to enter a more formal contest).

I’ve scoured the internet for seed spitting contests in my area (south central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Maryland) and have found nothing too promising. I’ve found contests that used to be held in my neck of the woods, but no evidence that they still are. Oh well, the search continues. In the meantime, I’ll study the video below in which seed spitters discuss their techniques.

Watermelon seed spitting contests are held all over the world, but each year, at the Watermelon Thump festival in Luling, Texas, the best spitters in the nation come together for the World Championship Seed Spitting Contest. It’s a sight to behold, complete with TV cameras and a sizable crowd. In fact, they’ve even built their own seed “spitway,” complete with bleachers and a watermelon shaped spitting pad.

It was in Luling that the current Guinness World Record for seed spitting was set at 68 feet 9 and 1/8 inches by Luling local Lee Wheelis in 1989. Lee’s record has stood for 20 years, and it got me thinking: What if we hosted a seed spittin’ contest right here on What About Watermelon?

So that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Starting today, the inaugural “What About Watermelon Seed Spittin’ Contest” is officially underway. And yes, you have to drop the “g” in “spittin’.” The contest starts today and ends on Tuesday, September 29. The person with the longest distance will win a cool trophy and be forever immortalized in the What About Watermelon Seed Spittin’ Hall of Fame (it really is quite an honor).

As far as I know, this is the first ever watermelon seed spittin’ contest held online! Here are the rules (adapted in part from the official Watermelon Thump rules):

1. Seeds can be spit indoors or outdoors. If spit outdoors, seeds cannot be aided by wind, and must be spit on a windless day.

2. Draw a line to serve as the launch point. You may get a running start if you wish, but when spitting, you cannot step over the line.

3. Distance shall be measured not from where the seed first lands, but from where the seed stops travelling. In other words, if the seed bounces or rolls an additional five feet, that extra distance counts. For this reason, you may choose to spit on a smooth surface, like a basketball court (indoors or out).

4. E-mail your best distance to me at watermelonexperts@gmail.com by Tuesday, September 29. Please use the honor system when reporting your results!

Check here for some tips on how to spit seeds (try practicing with sunflower seeds). And, for a great glimpse of the seed spittin’ action and watermelon fanaticism at the Luling Watermelon Thump, check out ESPN.com reporter Darren Rovell’s coverage of the 52nd annual festival. Also look for an interview with a former seed spitting champion right here on What About Watermelon in the coming weeks.

Good luck, happy spittin’, and let the games begin!! Oh, and below is an excerpt from The Tonight Show that ran just last week featuring Jimmy Fallon and some kids engaging in a watermelon seed spitting contest. Enjoy!

UP NEXT: Back to school snacks