FOOD What has happened to the watermelon?

S

Southern Hen

Contributing Member
There is nothing that chickens love more than fresh watermelon on a hot afternoon.

They pig out on the watermelon and eat it right to the rind.

So I bought my flock a watermelon treat today, expecting them to pig out on it as usual.

But they hardly touched it.

I have NEVER seen chickens pass up on eating fresh slices of watermelon.

Never.

Not in 20 years of raising chickens.

What have they done to the watermelon?
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
 
D

diesel85

Senior Member
Countrymouse said:
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
Click to expand...

Do you see where those veggies and fruits are coming from? They sit on boats, docks, and yards a long time before they end up in the store. I've heard onions up to a month from Peru and some other areas.
 
Capt. Eddie

Capt. Eddie

Veteran Member
Countrymouse said:
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
Click to expand...
I'll ship you all the black crickets you want, they're thick in western Iowa
 
T

Terrwyn

Has No Life - Lives on TB
You can still get the huge watermelons with seeds at the local Mexican market. Cardenas.
 
Raggedyman

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
we've had 4 or 5 watermelons here and every one has been G R E A T - personally I prefer the seedless. at 76 IDGAF if its GMO or not. you want to worry about something? look at your kids and grand kids - look at AI - look at the zombie fvks all around you and what's been done to this country. now THERES a few GREAT choices if you're looking for something to worry about
 
oops

oops

Veteran Member
Sad to say...but... hubby's Granny had canned tomatoes left in her cellar...absolutely beautiful...n soooo vibrant red...same with her beans...beets...etc...n we took a few different jars home for "show" because of how pretty they still were..almost 20 yrs after her death...without thinkin... Needed tomatoes for chili a few weeks later...grabbed a jar of tomatoes..,tipped them to dump'm in...n had to stick a finger in n pull out the first tomato...knew instantly of the screw up...finger n mouth asap ...the whinin n bouncin ensued...dang it all those tomatoes hurt...then remembered why I hated workin up tomatoes...these ones now are a waste of time n effort compared to the old ones...both for taste n texture...
 
wobble

wobble

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Countrymouse said:
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
Click to expand...
They are all in my yard… but I’m not seeing any Joro spiders this year so far.
 
S

Southern Hen

Contributing Member
summerthyme said:
Is it weird that I'd trust my chickens for food safety before tye FDA or USDA?!

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
I do, too.

I trust my cat more than the USDA or FDA, too.

This is why I am worried about the watermelon.

When they did not eat hardly any of it while out in their 40 foot by 20 foot outdoor chicken yard today, I cut some of it up and put in a large dog food bowl, and put the food bowl inside their henhouse for after hours snacking.

I keep the lights on inside their henhouse from 7 am till 9 pm every day, to insure that they get 14 hours of light exposure, and also, so they have plenty of light to get them to go back into their henhouse without giving me trouble, come dusk.

This means that right now, they have about an hour inside their henhouse before the lights go out. Plenty of time to snack before they line up on their roosts for the evening snooze.

I watched them. They snacked on their chicken feed in that time period, but passed once again on the watermelon.

This melon was not rubbery, like I have heard some melons are.

It tasted and looked normal to me.

But my chickens definitely disapproved.

Right now, I am growing a few Crimson Sweet watermelon plants in my organic vegetable garden.

it is too early to have fruit, but when mature fruit finally appear, it will be interesting to see if they turn up their noses at homegrown fruit or not.
 
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Fairwillows

Fairwillows

Where I am supposed to be.
I had an encounter like this but with large oranges. We had eaten all but 2 of them. Being nice, I cut the last 2 and stuck them on a piece of bent coat hanger for the birds to enjoy......no birds would touch them. So I threw them on the ground. It was summer......no bugs or critters would touch them, not bee nor ants. After a couple of weeks I still saw them, not mold, not darkening of skin or pulp..........yea, I haven't touched an orange since then!!!!
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
My tortoise doesn’t have a problem nibbling him some watermelon though blueberries and bananas are his favorite though they have to be cut to size for him to really nosh on them. But if he’s already eaten he turns his backside to the treat and has to wait a bit for things to move through so to speak. He prefers hibiscus leaves and some of the feral food I bring in out of the yard for him.

Supposedly he is supposed to like broccoli and spinach but he lets them wilt in favor of the wild/feral food in our yard.

I bet if you didn’t feed them before you give them the melon they might not be so choosy. Or maybe they are feathered food critics and are snobby about some foods. It wouldn’t surprised me after some of the things our pets are “supposed” to like only for them to be the opposite about it. Right now we have the two pugs, my tortoise named Doofus, and a tangerine leopard gecko that is my younger son’s. Gecko is supposed to love meal worms but won’t haven anything to do with them, he only like live crickets. I’ve already told you about the tortoise. And our pugs are pigs rather than picky.
 
patriotgal

patriotgal

Veteran Member
DazedandConfused said:
Had one last year the chickens wouldn't touch. Normally its down to just the skin by the end of the day..
Pulled it out of the lot and threw into the woodline for the other critters to eat. Nothing touched it ,not even ants.
Click to expand...
Had a couple like that last year. Absolutely nothing would touch those rinds. Not the deer, the raccoons, nope. Pretty scary.
 
Bps1691

Bps1691

Veteran Member
I’ve planted open pollinated water melons and musk melons for decades with good results.

We haven’t planted any melons for the last five years. We didn’t have room for them when we cut back when I couldn’t do the work anymore.

We tried the ice box melons and they were t worth a dam. Same with store bought melons.
 
Night Owl

Night Owl

Veteran Member
Y’all know how to pick a good watermelon?

The end stump must be brown, means it ripen in the field. Nit green.

There must be a yellow streak on one side where it laid on the ground, better if it’s flat too.

A hollow tapping sound isn’t the go all anymore for a sweet watermelon with them injecting melons with water.

Animals are smart….they know when something isn’t good for them.

Example: We are traveling by car today and stopped at Arby’s Roast Beef for lunch. I got 4 double beef sandwiches,, 2 for DH, 1 for myself and 1 for the beef meat for our darling dog. We ate our sandwiches then took the meat out of the bread and tried to feed the dog the meat, tore it in small pieces, he wouldn’t have a thing to do with it. Mind you I make my own dog food from Organic human meat and veggies, so he should not have an issue with human meat., He’s definitely smarter then us cause we scarfed it down.
 
P

Publius

On TB every waking moment
Some livestock like cows will eat watermelon rind and all seriously and once they find it they are not going to share any of it.
 
K

ktrapper

Veteran Member
Countrymouse said:
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
Click to expand...
I brought the crickets, katydids, night bugs and all with me when we moved to Alaska 26 years ago.

It’s called ringing in the ears.

I guess that’s why it doesn’t bother me like it does a lot of people. It sounds kinda like all the night bugs I heard all of my first 30 plus years growing up un the deep south.
 
B

billet

Veteran Member
Countrymouse said:
Watermelons should have that deep red flesh and the solid black seeds.
...now--either seedless, or the anemic white seeds, and far too watery and pinkish-flesh with little taste.

Onions--especially if unpeeled--used to last and last.
...now they are far too "juicy" and spoil within a week or two.

Cantaloupe used to have a certain yellowish-look when ripe, and a certain taste/texture to the flesh.
...now they have a strange green-lined "webbing" even when ripe, and like onions go bad far too quickly.

Tomatoes, whether Roma or the big ones for hamburgers, that used to be so good
...now the seeds start sprouting INSIDE them before they are even cut open--you cut them open & they're full of sprouts!

And here's something I just realized last night..

Was having trouble sleeping, and couldn't, but it took me a while to figure out why.

NO crickets.

It's the 3rd of June--

and NOT ONE CRICKET.

I thought, maybe it's because it's so late at night--but I went out just now, at twilight--

and NO crickets. No tree frogs. No June bugs.

No normal June night-noises at all.
Click to expand...

These are all just small, incremental signs that we're coming to the end of the age. Circling the bowl, a little deeper everyday,and then the final flush.
 
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Scrapman

Scrapman

Veteran Member
Black farmer from Georgia used to drive up here every summer and sell his watermelons. He called them black congos. That was the best I've ever had. Some of you folks from Georgia know what I'm talking about.
 
F

FireDance

TB Fanatic
The last watermelon we bought (YEARS ago) we didn’t finish so I threw it across the fence to the cows. They wouldn’t touch it. I saw one try it and that was the end of it. We haven’t bought one since then.

I don’t know what to think. But if the animals won’t eat it, Bleck.
 
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