Is there ANY fruit more associated with a decorative holiday table display than a watermelon basket?

It’s an especially nice touch as a centerpiece, and they’re so easy to make. Even better, my simple watermelon basket tips (and video) can also work for other melons like baby watermelons, honeydew, and even cantaloupe!  Of course, market conditions and seasonal availability determine the melons we have at Nino’s, but we ALWAYS have watermelons.

Whether you carve them or not.

As for filling your carved watermelon basket, you can choose the watermelon pieces left over from your carving, or other colorful fruits can be added. It can also be a beautiful container for a tossed greens salad to which fruits have been added.

Now, carving a watermelon basket sounds like a lot of work or as if it might be a bit challenging, but honestly, it isn’t. As a matter of fact, with just a little effort, it may just end up being one of the most talked about dishes at the party!

By far, the simplest watermelon carving you can make is a basket, and I’ve got a few tips on how you can make one, on your very first attempt, that will look just like the pros did it.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video is even better, so I spent a moment to put together a simple how-to video to show you just what you need to do to create your own masterpiece.

If you’d like to know more about melons, one place to start is: Melon Mania. It’s Nino’s own guide to all sorts of melon varieties, including 5 delicious melon recipes!

In addition, below are some of the more common, uncommon melons that occasionally grace the bins at Nino’s. 

Carolina Cross:

This variety of watermelon produced the current world record watermelon, weighing 262 pounds. It has green skin and red flesh and commonly produces fruit between 65 and 150 pounds.

Yellow Crimson Watermelon:

This variety of watermelon has a yellow-colored flesh and has been described as sweeter and more honey flavored than the more popular red-flesh watermelon.

Orangeglo:

This variety has a very sweet orange pulp and is a large oblong fruit, weighing 20 to 30 pounds. It has a light-green rind with jagged dark-green stripes.

Moon and Stars:

This variety of watermelon has been around since 1926. The rind is purple/black and has many small, yellow circles (stars) and one or two large, yellow circles (moon). The melon weighs between 20 and 50 pounds. The flesh is pink or red and has brown seeds. The foliage is also spotted.

Cream of Saskatchewan:

This variety consists of small, round fruits around 10 inches in diameter. It has a quite thin, light green with dark green striped rind, with sweet, white flesh and black seeds. It can grow well in cool climates. It was originally brought to Saskatchewan, Canada, by Russian immigrants.

Melitopolski:

This variety has small, round fruits roughly 11 to 12 inches in diameter. It is an early ripening variety that originated from the Volga River region of Russia, an area known for cultivation of watermelons. The Melitopolski watermelons are seen piled high by vendors in Moscow in summer.

Densuke Watermelon:

This variety has round fruit weighing up to 25 lbs. The rind is black with no stripes or spots. It is only grown on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, where up to 10,000 watermelons are produced every year. In June 2008, one of the first harvested watermelons was sold at an auction for 6,100 USD, making it the most expensive watermelon ever sold. (The average selling price is generally around 250 USD.)

Whatever melon you choose and however you like it, we hope you’ll stop by Nino’s, pick out your favorite and enjoy!