The fact that the local cucumber crop is coming in has
reminded me of one of my misbegotten gardening attempts. I always started the squash, cucumbers and
pumpkins in pots inside around mid-April.
Our growing season isn’t really long enough for watermelon, but one year
I hoped that by starting watermelon inside too, I might get a few.
I transplanted the small vines outside around Memorial Day and
was delighted to see the watermelon progressing much faster than I had even
hoped. Sometime in early August, one of
the watermelon looked ripe. I picked it
and took it into the kitchen. When I cut
into it, I was surprised to find that it was not at all pink. Inside, it was white and tasted like a cucumber. A week or so later, I picked another
watermelon. This time I discovered that
there were circular areas of pink surrounding the seeds. It looked like a pink polka-dotted cucumber
inside. A few days later, I picked a third
watermelon. This one had wedges of
pink. Thereafter, everything I picked
was totally pink, although a bit pale, but did actually taste like watermelon.
I concluded that I had planted the watermelon and cucumbers
too close together, and they must have cross-pollinated. Those that were genetically more cucumber
must have ripened first, while the more “watermelony” ones ripened later. At least that is my theory…unproven
scientifically….but I like it.
And the cucumbers that year were especially sweet!
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