I see you're very resourceful and a creative thinker. My DH has one of those racks, I think by Topeak, that you can buy various items to slide/lock onto it. He has a square metal/mesh basket that attaches to the rack and then has a cargo netting set up that holds things in it. Pretty cool.

How was your melon? I'd love to see a photo. I think you should go buy a substitute melon, if you've already cut into the current one, and "re-enact" the entire thing with photos just for our viewing pleasure. What do you think? lol.