Last summer, we grew a watermelon in the garden. We were so worried that the raccoons would get it that I made a welded cage to protect it. We kept checking to see if it was time to pick. The leaves on the plant turned yellow, so we thought it was ready.
We cut the watermelon open- and it wasn't ripe. It didn't taste bad, just kind of bland and less sweet than a good watermelon. The seeds looked mature, so it must have been very close. But after you open a watermelon it's too late.
The watermelon had a larger white layer near the rind (not the tougher greenish part). It tasted crisp and very similar to cucumber. That gave us the idea of making pickles. We decided to keep it simple and make quick refrigerator lemon pickled watermelon rind. We added just lemon juice, sugar, and salt, and didn't cook it. I don't have an exact recipe, but I read a few online. Enough lemon juice and sugar to make a syrupy solution to cover the chopped watermelon, and a pinch of salt but not enough to affect the flavor. If you add too much sugar, it would be more like candied watermelon rind. It wasn't pickled enough to keep very long in the fridge. Regular pickles with vinegar might last longer.
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