Lacto-Fermented Watermelon Rind Pickles

Making the most of what you have is important when times are tough. Making stock from vegetable peelings, reusing a tea bag, or composting those egg shells just makes sense whether you’re tight on cash or not.

And that is where pickled watermelon rinds must have come from. I imagine that during the great depression things like this were imperative. You slice up a watermelon, enjoy every drop of its cool sweetness, and then look at the rind leftover.

You’ve got two options - turn it into chicken food or people food. Since people were probably hungry you turn it into people food.

Some recipes for the watermelon rind pickle are sugary sweet, much like the pickled beet. But they certainly don’t have to be and have a delightfulness about them all on their own. Nevertheless, feel free to jazz these guys up with some spices - ginger or mustard seed wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Ingredients:

• Rind from one or more Watermelons
• Sea Salt
• Filtered Water
• Spices as desired

Instructions:

1. Scrape the pink flesh from the watermelon rind. Peel the outer green skin from the watermelon rind. Cut the watermelon rind into 1” squares.
2. Prepare a brine by combining 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 quart of filtered water.
3. Place watermelon rind squares and any spices you desire into a fermentation vessel - crock or jar. Cover to within an inch of the top with the brine. Cover and allow to ferment 1-3 days at room temperature. During this time you may have to “burp” jars to allow gases to escape. To do this simply loosen the canning ring, listen for the gas to escape, and tighten the lid again.
4. Transfer to cold storage where it should keep for months.

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