Watermelon - a favorite berry of all

From July to November, people like to eat delicious andsweet watermelons. Now they are grown not only in the south, but even in the Non-Chernozem Zone. After all, for their normal maturation is enough two warm months, so they cultivate watermelons, even in Siberia.

Watermelon - a berry, belonging to the family of pumpkin,but it is rather difficult to grow. This requires special conditions. For the appearance of sweet fruits, the temperature should not drop below 25 degrees for a long time. The field on which watermelons grow is called melon, but in the Middle Belt and north they are cultivated most often under a film.

The birthplace of watermelon is Africa. And now in the desert there grows its wild variety - colocite. It has small poisonous fruits that are not afraid of any heat. Another kind of watermelon that is common in America is citron. But the more famous watermelon is woolly. It is he who is so loved by many. Now there are a huge number of varieties, differing in size, thickness and color of the peel, density and color of pulp.

Watermelon - tender berry, badly toleratestransportation. The most delicious and sweet varieties are so thin that they can burst at any touch. Therefore, breeders are trying to breed varieties of watermelons that are resistant to "moving" and storage. They have a thick skin, they can be shifted and even thrown, not afraid that the berry will burst. True, such watermelons lose in taste and are very hard to cut.

Most likely, in Russia this melon cropcame from Central Asia. Watermelons grew on the Volga in the 11th and 12th centuries. But they spread throughout the country only from the end of the 19th century. Of course, they were adapted to local conditions, but the best watermelons still grow in our southern steppes of the Volga, the Krasnodar Territory, the Azov Sea and the Transcaucasus. They are considered the most delicious and are distinguished by their large size, large seeds and light color with clear stripes.

But a watermelon is a berry, loved by many people, quitecan grow tasty and much to the north. This, for example, such varieties: "Siberian Lights", "Ogonek", "Sugar" and even "Astrakhan" and "Early Kuban". In the middle lane ripen quickly "Skorospelka Kharkivska" and "Medovka". But they need to grow seedlings and cover with a drop of temperature covered with a film.

Watermelon - the berry is rather unpretentious. The conditions of its growth depend on the variety. There are those that become sweet only in hot and dry steppe air, and in conditions of heavy rains they rot and burst. But there are also those who like excess moisture, for example, in Kashmir, berries are grown in hammocks suspended from water and stuffed with moist seaweed.

Watermelon is not only a pleasant taste. Often they are used in folk medicine to reduce swelling and improve digestion. Pulp is used in face masks that rejuvenate the skin. With the help of watermelon diet can lose weight and cleanse the body of toxins. From the pulp cook honey, and large pieces of peel can even be salted.

Watermelons with thick skin are well kept untilNew Year. But you can increase this time by using a simple method: to wash the fruits well, so as not to damage the skin, dry it, lay it individually in threaded nets and hang it. In this state watermelons can be until spring (only do not forget to periodically check them).