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.

Ever since I was a little kid, s’mores have always been one of my favorite camping snacks. What’s not to love about it? Graham crackers? Good. Marshmallows? Good. Chocolate? Great! My secret to the perfect s’more, which I’ll share with you here, (but you have to promise not to tell anyone) is to soften or melt the chocolate a little bit by putting the chocolate in the graham cracker and placing it on a rock near the campfire for a few minutes while you cook your marshmallow.

Even though the recipe below for watermelon s’mores isn’t quite the same as a traditional campfire s’more, it’s the perfect standby when you’re camped out at home with friends and family.

WATERMELON S’MORES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chocolate fudge sauce

4  two-inch by four-inch by one-inch thick rectangles of seedless watermelon

1 cup mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the center of 4 plates. Drizzle 1/3 of the fudge sauce over the crumbs. Place a watermelon rectangle over the crumbs and chocolate on each plate. Drizzle 1/3 of the chocolate fudge sauce over the watermelon. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the watermelon and drizzle the remaining chocolate fudge sauce over the marshmallows. Serves 4.

This month’s prize, which I’ll give away to one comment chosen at random from all the comments left on the blog in March, is the 100 percent organic watermelon juice pictured on the right. I haven’t tried this juice, but I do know that the juice is one of my favorite parts of eating watermelon, so this could be pretty good.

According to the website where it’s sold, this one liter bottle of heaven is made from “100% pure pressed watermelon.”

So, what can you do with a bottle of watermelon juice? I guess you could pour yourself a tall glass and drink it on a hot summer day. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. You could also use it to make watermelon juice ice cubes (though you could do that with pureed watermelon, too). You can also use watermelon juice in recipes. It’s really up to you!

By the way, the winner of our February prize — the watermelon growing kit — is Courtney. Congrats Courtney, and thanks to everyone who left a comment last month. Keep ‘em coming!

MATTHEW L. OF INDIANAPOLIS, IN ASKS: Where can I get seeded watermelon? I would like to have them shipped to me or I’ll pick them up.

I hear you loud and clear, Matthew. It seems like all you can find these days are seedless watermelons, but every now and then, for old time’s sake, it would be nice to have one with seeds, right?  

While the seedless and mini varieties have taken over in popularity and demand, there certainly are still many folks who grow and sell the seeded watermelons, oblong in shape, chock full of black seeds. I get a lot of comments from people who remember the long, sweet watermelons of their youth and do not think that the seedless varieties are as good, but there is no science that supports the notion that a seeded watermelon is sweeter than a seedless.

If you really have a yearning for seeded watermelons, there are two things you can do: 1) check your local farmers’ markets and 2) talk to your local produce manager at your grocery store. He can take the request up to the store’s buyers. If a buyer believes that his customers will buy a seeded watermelon, he’ll be more apt to supply for the store. If he won’t stock seeded watermelon (which isn’t likely), ask him if he knows where you might find some.

Hope this helps,

The Watermelon Guy

ANDREW ASKS: Dear watermelon guy: If you love watermelon so much, why don’t you marry it?

Good question, Andrew. I do love watermelon, probably more than I love any other fruit or vegetable. Some people would call my love of watermelon “fanatical” or “extreme” or “borderline obsessive.” But I think it’s a healthy obsession, not only because watermelon is a healthy food, but because out of all the things I could be obsessed with, it could be worse. For example, I once knew a girl who was frighteningly obsessed with a certain boy band. It was scary. We almost held an intervention for her, but the band broke up and she moved on to other pursuits.

As for the second part of your question – about watermelon and I living together in wedded bliss – I’m afraid that’s just not possible. First of all, I’m already married to a wonderful woman who happily supports my watermelon obsession. But even if I wasn’t married, there’s the whole issue of societal norms and whether or not it’s even legal to marry a watermelon. I’m pretty sure it isn’t, at least not in my state.

But even if it was legal AND socially acceptable to wed fruits and vegetables, I still wouldn’t take the plunge, mainly because I could never dedicate myself to just one watermelon.

Since one of my New Year’s resolutions is to grow a watermelon, and that process usually starts in March, I’ve decided to give away a watermelon growing kit as this month’s prize. It’s everything you need to get your little watermelon plant up-and-running – at least until it’s time to transplant it to a larger area outside.

The kit is actually an all-in-one product called the Sprout n Grow Greenhouse (above) that allows you to grow your very own Sugar Baby watermelons. It includes watermelon seeds, a windowsill greenhouse, planting mixture, instructions and an information sheet. The green thumb is sold separately (can you buy those?) but as a What About Watermelon reader, you will have access to our panel of experts, including watermelon farmer Josh Bailey, who would be more than happy to give you some pointers if you need them.

One comment chosen at random from all the comments received here on What About Watermelon in February will win this prize. Good luck!

It’s odd that our shortest month was chosen as the one to raise awareness for our biggest health issue, but 28 days is better than nothing, I guess. Could it have something to do with Valentine’s Day being observed in February? I doubt it, but it’s a good theory.

There are all sorts of facts and statistic about heart health and why it’s important for everyone to learn more about their ticker (for themselves and their loved ones), but the statistic that drives the point home for me is that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States among men and women.

There are a lot of things you can do to create a healthier heart – eat right, exercise, educate yourself about your heart – and I won’t get into all of them here (I’ll let the American Heart Association website do that), but I would like to remind everyone about the heart healthy benefits of fruit and vegetables including watermelon. Actually, I’ll let the National Watermelon Promotion Board do that, too. The National Watermelon Promotion Board (the owner of this blog, of course) has a page on their website about watermelon and heart health that lists the following facts:

1. Watermelon consumption increases free arginine, which can help to maintain cardiovascular function.
2. Eating watermelon can help to maintain cardiovascular health.
3. Watermelon has amino acids, which can help maintain blood flow and heart health.

So how will you observe National Heart Health Month? Might I suggest starting with a trip to your local grocery store’s produce aisle?

Here it is, the last recipe in our five-week series of game day goodies, and this one brings the football theme to life in a very literal way. It’s the football cake. Actually, it’s not really a cake (good news for those who don’t want to bake). It’s more of a watermelon sculpture. A very simple, yet very cool sculpture.

FOOTBALL CAKE

INGREDIENTS

Large seedless oblong shaped watermelon
2 cups cream cheese frosting
Licorice strips

DIRECTIONS

Slice two of the sides lengthwise down the watermelon to expose a large watermelon surface on both sides. Cut a football shaped marquis out of the watermelon. Place the watermelon cut into a football shape on a platter. Slice into thin slices but leave assembled as a football. Decorate with the frosting and licorice ties to look like a football with stitches. Serves 18 to 24.

I recently traded in my old phone for a new one, like any new phone owner, I can’t seem to put the darn thing down. I blame it on the fact that there are so many cool programs (aka “apps”) that you can download for it.

There are apps that tell you where the police are hiding to help you avoid getting a ticket, apps that help you find a good restaurant in your area, and even a “fake phone call” app that will call you at a time of your choosing to help you get out of a sticky situation. (I haven’t used it yet, but I’m sure I will.)  

And then there are the games. The many, many, many games. Some are free and some a buck or two, but nearly all of them are more addictive than a watermelon milk shake. Speaking of watermelon, there are a few games featuring my favorite fruit that I recently downloaded and have taken a liking to.

One is appropriately titled “Watermelon!” and it was released only a few days ago. For 99 cents you can download the game, which pits you against evil robots. Your only ammunition is watermelon rinds, which you create by eating watermelon and then throw the rinds at the robots to make them slip and eventually return them to the moon. It’s not a complicated game (most of the games aren’t), which is part of what makes it so fun.

I’m not sure if watermelon rinds would make a good weapon in a real life robot war (a high-powered seed shooter seems like a better choice), but they do the trick in this game. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some robots to fight.

Yes, it’s a watermelon bus stop. No, I don’t know why someone designed a watermelon bus stop, but I think it’s pretty cool nonetheless, don’t you?