An old man by the roadside was selling bruised fruit at 30 yuan per jin; after one taste, I bought 2 jin without hesitation.

Coming back from the vegetable market, I saw an old man selling a lot of fruit out of a bamboo basket, but nobody was buying. Getting closer, I saw this fruit was quite rare, but all of it was split open and bruised. I thought to myself, no wonder nobody's buying! The old man said this was wild August melon, and now was exactly the time to eat it - sweet and nutritious. Because it's wild, he was selling it at 30 yuan per jin.

And this August melon, actually also called "August cracker", meaning that only when it ripens in the eighth or ninth month does the outer skin split and burst open, hence the name. August melons with intact, uncracked skin are actually unripe and not good to eat at all.

The old man had me try one. At first, seeing this mushy fruit, I was a bit reluctant to take a bite, but unexpectedly, the moment it hit my mouth, a smooth, sweet fragrance filled my whole mouth, and it was quite juicy too. They say it's rich in nutrients, packed with sugar, vitamin C, and 12 kinds of amino acids, as well as methionine and phenylalanine, which the human body cannot synthesize, and it has the effects of promoting qi circulation to relieve pain and clearing heat and dampness.

Anyway, it's rare to come across, and the old man said that in some places it costs even more than this. If I bought 2 jin, he'd only charge me 50 yuan. All right, I decisively bought 2 jin to take home so the family could try something new too. After all, it's a wild, pollution-free green food, better than the pesticide-sprayed kind!

The August melon looks like a banana, so it's also called "earth banana". Generally, the softer and mushier the skin, the riper the flesh and the sweeter the taste. Its sweetness is very high, and many wild August melons in rural areas are simply picked and eaten as fruit.

When we eat an August melon, we find it actually has a lot of seeds inside, just like a dragon fruit, though much bigger than those seeds. These seeds can be used for planting or for pressing oil.

At present, August melons are mostly wild, and artificial cultivation isn't very common yet. The August melon likes shady, damp conditions and is fairly cold-resistant. It often grows among the grass under forest on low-altitude hillsides, and grows in abundance in the mountain forests of Shanxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places.

After eating an August melon, we can use its seeds for potted planting. Once the seeds are washed clean and dried in the sun, they're ready to sow. Seed propagation is simple and easy, but potted August melons bear fruit slowly - generally taking more than 3 years to fruit. Growing one yourself for ornamental purposes is quite interesting too, and who knows, it might fruit in less than 3 years!