A friend sent me an email fwd the other day about Japanese farmers developing a technique to grow square watermelons. My first reaction to the pictures was to covet the mad Photoshop skills of the person who made them. Then I realized that we're talking about Japan, the country that brought us Human Tetris and made mole v. jet pack possible...so it had to be true.
After a little Googling I found out that the square watermelon story dates back to at least June 2001 and that the square fruits were developed (by growing them in a cube-shaped plastic case while still on the vine) to take up less room in refrigerators. How about that? Adorable and functional.
Somehow, this was a lot more inspiring to me than, oh, the one about the lovable hard-working handicapped kid who prevails in the end thanks to the abundant outpouring of love and generosity from a group of truckers on Thanksgiving Day — and despite the fact that I'm incapable of growing anything or keeping alive anything that is even already pre-grown (is this a good time to break the news about your lovely Christmas mini pine tree, Jerry and Vivian?) — I found myself bookmarking this page for future reference.
2 comments:
Our tree died too, I think it is a christmas marketing scam. But we've got some yellow squash and zucchini ripening in the garden, you want some?
Also, at $82 per melon I think even you and I could make a profit growing them here and exporting to Japan.
Ooh, healthy homegrown vegetables I can turn into carb-o-licious cakes and sweet breads? Sign me up.
In case you were serious about making a fortune in the square watermelon industry, there's a site that is selling the plastic cases in which to grow them (at $90 a pop).
http://square-watermelons.com/
I've also read about people using cinder blocks and gallon milk jugs, but I was wondering if the former would allow for enough sun, and if the latter is strong enough to sustain its shape as the melon grows.
Yes, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
Post a Comment