WEBVTT - Ep. 125: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Watermelons 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.240 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.680 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.960 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.080 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:40.920 think I got a thing or two and teach you watermelons. 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.159 It's watermelon time and I live in watermelon country. Judging 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.560 by a little research that I did, a whole bunch 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.360 of us do now where I live. You can't chunk 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.240 a yard dart in the air this time of year 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.160 and not have it come down and stable watermelon or 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.960 somebody eating one. So this week, as we continue to sell, 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.840 I break the two hundred and forty seventh year of 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.119 our nation telling England to kiss our behind. We're gonna 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.559 talk about three different varieties. How to pick a ripe 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.440 one salt or no salt? Why is that even a question? 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:17.400 And seedless watermelons? What kind of witchcraft is that? Hang 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.880 on to the end and you're gonna get some bonus footage. 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:29.000 The first I'm gonna tell you a story. I think 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.720 about some things and I ponder about others. The difference 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.600 in my thinking and pondering is when I think about algebra, 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:41.280 which is seldom I'm forced to ponder about who decided 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:45.000 that fractions weren't hard enough without adding letters to them? 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.160 Adding letters together is called spelling, not math. Now, what 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.480 in the world does algebra have to do with watermelons? 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.240 Not one thing. It's the issue of pondering. So, in 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.720 the grand scheme of things, is stealing a watermelon a crime? 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.280 Answers and obvious, Yes, of course it is. But to 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.000 a couple of high school boys that looked a whole 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.880 lot like me in one of my lifelong best friends, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:13.000 Greg Hayes, we decided the risk was worth the reward. 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:16.400 I believe the mere thought of the sweet nectar of 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.160 the watermelon is the catalyst that enticed two young boys 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:26.160 to demonstrate lawlessness and mayhem. I admitted, I'm a watermelon addict, 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.520 and I always have been. There was a local farmer 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.800 not far from town that grew some of the best 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.520 watermelons in the county. No different were these melons than 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.200 the ones that we grew on our farm. So why 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:41.480 would I be stealing watermelons when we had them at home? 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:43.919 You ask, Well, that's a good question, and it brings 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:48.600 me back to that pondering thing. Regardless, this man raised 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.840 a lot of tomatoes, peas, corns, beans, and cows, just 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.840 like we did. He was a very nice man, and 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.320 he could have killed me and Greg one night, and 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.040 we're both glad he didn't. The second night of the 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:06.440 watermelon pillaging started out all right. The farmer's watermelon patch 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.000 had provided a couple of sweet offerings on the previous 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.799 night to a couple of boys that were hanging around 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.079 with their friends up town with nothing better to do. 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.040 It seemed only prudent that we should return for another sampling. 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:20.800 Me and Greg had just rolled a couple of mediums 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.079 up to the fence next to the road, where he said, 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.200 look at that watermelon up yonder under that night light. 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:30.080 Sweet mother. It was huge. It was a perfect specimen 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.720 of a watermelon. It looked like it weighed fifty pounds. 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.680 It was one of the biggest black diamond watermelons I'd 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.480 ever seen in my life. I'm not sure that that 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.640 light shining upon it wasn't coming from heaven instead of 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.240 the night light. And what of this night light and 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.840 huge watermelon that lay beneath it? How could something that 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.240 is so blatantly obvious now not look like the huge 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.600 rat trap that it was? Then? Now I could see 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:57.880 me and Greg rolling back up to the cool side 0:03:57.920 --> 0:03:59.920 of the sun, driving in with this monster, where we 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.760 would gather folks up and share our sweet, ill gotten game. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.040 It was ten o'clock and the farmer was no doubt 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:10.280 in bed, none the wiser to the hooliganism that was 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.120 taking place a quarter mile from his house. Next to 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:17.719 his barn under that big night light. We eased up 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.159 to the watermelon that all future watermelons would come to 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:25.520 be judged, and gently caressed its cool, dark skin. My 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:29.720 mind was racing, my heart was racing, and all of 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:34.880 a sudden Greg was racing. Greg was racing. When Where's 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.039 he going? I was confused, so I'm not sure if 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.200 I was wondering or pondering at this point. I stood 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:44.040 there and I watched him cover the one hundred and 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.560 fifty yards of watermelon patch in what seemed like five seconds. 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.240 Now Greg was built for speed, and he held the 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.320 state record high jump for quite a while, and with 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.320 one fluid motion, he jumped that five strand bab wir 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.719 fence that we had crawled under just a few minu before. 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.039 I heard him. When he hit the gravel road on 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:06.480 the other side. The sound of his shoes on that 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.240 gravel sounded like an antique stopwatch. As he and the 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.400 racket his feet were making faded into the dark night, 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:17.920 out of sight and out of hearing. Then, just as 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:21.360 that night light had bathed that black diamond and glowing glory, 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:26.400 I had an epiphany. Maybe something was wrong. Maybe Greg 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:29.240 was running because he was scared of something while I 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.279 looked around on the ground. Maybe it was a snake, 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.600 Maybe it was a dog I didn't see. Maybe it 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:36.360 was that man standing in the hall of that bar 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.240 and holding the shotgun. Yep, that's probably it. I commenced 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.359 at putting as much distance between myself and the business 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.080 end of that shotgun as I could, as the Good 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.680 Lord allowed me to do. I got to that fence 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:53.520 and successfully hurtled four of the five strands. The fifth 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.279 one tore the left leg almost completely out of my Overall, 0:05:57.839 --> 0:05:59.560 I had never run that fast in my life, and 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.080 up to that point, i'd never had it, And when 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.599 a nice old farmer uncorked a couple of shots that 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:07.640 I assumed were directly at me, but I'm sure now 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.719 they weren't. I found a hidden gear that I didn't 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.479 know I had, and I could have really used it 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:16.080 crossing that fence anyway. I bet that farmer told that 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.080 story many times, and I would have loved to have 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.920 watched it from his perspective. He taught me a lesson. 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.679 If it looks too good to be true, you better 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.919 believe it is. But at least we'd gotten away without 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:35.440 being identified. No harm, no foul. Lesson learned. Greg and 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:37.880 I worked at the co op, the local farm store 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.400 together after school and in the summertime, and prior to 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.760 the incident, we had always loaded that farmer's feed and 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.320 stuff when he came as fast as we could, and 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.360 would stop what we were doing to do it because 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.440 we thought so much of him. A few days after 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.400 that incident, the store manager called Greg and I to 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:59.200 his office, saying someone had left us something. We went 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.799 up front and there set that watermelon that we tried 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.720 to steal a few nights before. We didn't know what 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.880 to say. We just stood there staring, expecting the police 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.120 to show up to fingerprint us and haul us off 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:14.160 to prison. Store manager called the farmer by name and said, 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.680 he said to tell you boys, thank you for always 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.760 taking care of him, and anytime you wanted a watermelon, 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.760 just come by and get one. He usually goes to 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:30.640 bed about ten thirty. Now I knew he wanted us 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.760 to know that he called us, he knew who we were, 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.440 he knew we were good boys, and he wasn't mad. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.680 And the lesson we learned a few nights before was 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.520 cemented with that revelation. Like I said, he was a 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:53.680 real nice man. And that's just how that is what 0:07:53.840 --> 0:08:02.560 the rush Springs Oklahoma, Weatherford, Texas, Green River, Utah, Beardstown, Illinois, Naples, Texas, Cordell, Georgia, 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.600 and Hope, Arkansas all have in common. They each call 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:11.040 themselves the watermelon capital of the world. Now, instead of 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.240 us laying these places out all side by side and 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.720 comparing the measurables of each claim of qualifications and getting 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.640 folks stirred up enough to start duking it out, We're 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.520 just going to cut through that waste of time and 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:27.280 declare Hope as the real champion Hope is located in 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.679 the natural state of Arkansas, and it's only a coincidence 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.400 that that's where I'm from and live. This was an 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:38.559 unbiased culmination of thought and research based on It's a 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.080 shorter drive for someone from Hope to catch me out 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:46.240 somewhere and invite me to join them in some pugilistic endeavor. Remember, kids, 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.480 discretion is the better part of valor. Now y'all know, 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.520 I'm kidding, not really, And I seriously doubt that I 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.680 could tell the difference. Yes, I could between a watermelon 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:00.520 growing in Hope as compared to one in Beardstown. And 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.280 I'd hate for the folks to send me free watermelons. No, 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:07.160 I wouldn't from those places for me to try. But 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.400 what kind of watermelon? Did y'all know? There are over 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:15.200 three hundred types of watermelons? That's right, three hundred now 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.320 my mind, there's only two kinds of watermelon, those I 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.680 have it and those I'm fixing to. To me, they're 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.679 all good, but just like a lot of things, some 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.240 are just better than others. We raised Charleston Gray's, which 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.520 are very sweet and the outside is a light green color. 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.080 The Jewilie variety were another type that we grew and 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.360 are probably what a lot of folks identifies what a 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:42.040 watermelon looks like, with the light and the dark green stripes. 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.760 They're all sweet, but my favorite has always been the 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:49.600 black diamond. Just a few minutes ago, I related how 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.800 my black diamond watermelon is session nearly sent me and 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.800 my buddy Greg on a lifelong crime spree that could 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.600 have started that very night had we not been shocked 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.200 back in in reality by a bob wire fence and 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:06.640 a double barrel shotgun. Now, my mama was partial to 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.920 yellow meaated watermelons. It's been said that they're even sweeter 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.600 and can have a hint of a honey flavor. I've 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.120 ed them both, and I really couldn't testify to that, 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:20.680 but man, they're good. Yellow or red watermelons originated on 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.480 the Dark Continent and have been around for five thousand years. 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.240 That makes me kind of sad thinking about all the 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.920 ones I missed. Instead of diving into all three hundred 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:35.560 plus different varieties, let's talk briefly about the three I mentioned. 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.280 They seem to be the most popular in my vast 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.000 personal experience that I've had eaten them, and the minimal 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:44.560 amount of research I did in preparation for this episode. Now, 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.560 I don't mean that I was slacking off, but these 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.240 three are like the biscuits of the watermelon world to me, 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.839 and the rest, well, they're just the gravy developed by 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:58.400 the US Department of Agriculture. And you guessed. Charleston, South Carolina, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.920 a coastal city where a reported smallpox outbreak erupted in 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.680 sixteen ninety eight, followed by an earthquake in sixteen ninety nine. 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:09.720 Those folks couldn't catch a break, but they held on 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:14.120 until the late nineteen forties when Gray came along and 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.800 it was love at first bite. I would like to 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.840 point out the fact that while we were fresh from 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.400 taking Germany and Japan out behind the wood shed and 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.840 teaching them how to play well with others, and instead 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.600 of setting on our collective behinds and taking a break, 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:32.040 we got busy making watermelons. The gold in creating the 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.880 Charleston Gray was to make a more disease resistant variety, 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:38.240 and by the nineteen fifties it had become the most 0:11:38.240 --> 0:11:42.440 popular grown watermelon, both commercially and in families garden in 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.679 the nation. Mission accomplished. Did I mention that watermelon is 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.920 good for you. Check this out. Watermelons are one of 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.240 the healthiest fruits you can eat. Their low calorie and 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.360 a great source of vitamins A, B, six, and C, 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.920 which helped strengthen your immune system and your brain function, 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.880 and that ain't never hurt nobody. They're also made up 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.480 of more than ninety percent water, so they'll help keep 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:10.000 you hydrated and refreshed during the hot summertime. I recommend 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.640 stretching after eating a big bait of them, especially if 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.760 it's just before retiring for the evening. If you stretch 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:17.400 your legs good, you're not as liable to pull the 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:19.280 muscle jumping up in the middle of the night. Hit 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.800 the litter box before you wet the bed. They don't 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:25.600 call them peach chunks for nothing. Then there's Leesburg, Florida. 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.400 It was nineteen sixty three, and those boys just down 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.160 the road at Cape Canaveral were snatching up all the 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.840 good press because all the talk was about going to 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:38.840 the moon. Meanwhile, the good folks at the Florida Agricultural 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:43.920 Experiment Station were celebrating the development of the Jubilee watermelon, 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:48.840 described as deliciously sweet and bumping the scales at forty pounds, 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.400 the Jubilee would take your taste buds out of this 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.960 world and you never had to leave the planet. This 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.280 springs us to my favorite and I'm ashamed to say 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.000 that when I sat down to gather up the end 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:04.520 information for this episode and I listed my three favorite varieties, 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.040 the first two in no particular order, but I knew 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.400 I would end the list with this one. That I 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.480 was totally unaware that a fella by the name of 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.520 Melville Dylan developed a black diamond watermelon in the great 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.720 state of Arkansas. I kid you not, I had no clue. 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:23.800 The thing about them is they can get to one 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.160 hundred pounds and be just as sweet and good as 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:29.800 one way in fifteen. I'm sure that and the relationship 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.160 of us growing them is what makes them my favorite, 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.160 because I honestly doubt I could tell the difference in 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.480 a blindfold taste test between the three of them. Now, 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.960 Clayton Newkelem and I were on a recent trip down 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.640 to Mississippi and on the way home we got to 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.000 talking about this episode and clay told me and I quote, 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.600 it is my goal during watermelon season to eat one 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:55.240 every day. I felt this I told them about a 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.400 five day period last summer that Alexis and I ate 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.880 four whole ones by our cells. It was what we 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.480 did every day when we got home from work, go 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.400 to the back patio, cut the fan on, and bust 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:19.200 the watermelon. At an earlier point of Clay Bowl's existence, 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.120 and before he became the bear grease Guru, he told 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.000 me about working in the produce section of Walmart, and 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:29.360 he claims to be a connoisseur of watermelons. He says 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.960 he can identify and differentiate the sound of a ripe 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.480 watermelon as good or better than anyone else. I like 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:38.600 to think that I can do that too. But it 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.000 was his passionate dissertation on the subtle nuances of that 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.920 sounds that they make when thump that he made me 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.240 realize that my brother of the Bear was playing on 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.880 a different level than the rest of us. He is, 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.280 without a doubt, a Tier one watermelon thumper. So what's 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.440 the best way to tell onns ripe? Do the old 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.600 thump test, But you need to know what you're listening for. 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.160 The best way I can describe what Clay said is 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.760 to listen for a deep, resonating sound when you thump it. 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.000 If it's a dull thud with no resonance, that joker 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.840 is probably too ripe, and that means mealy. And when 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.960 they get mealy, you take a bite of it, and 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:19.280 it's like having a mild mouthful of semisweet fine ground 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.960 corn meal. It is not pleasurable. If the sound is 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.880 more high pitched, then it's not ready yet. If you're 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.160 absolutely doing this on your own, it might take you 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:28.960 a few to get the hang of it, but you will. 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.000 If the thumping doesn't do it for you, then you 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.480 find the field spot of where it was setting on 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.040 the ground on the bottom. It's part of the watermelon 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.200 that was in the dirt. A riping will have a 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.880 butter colored yellow field spot. One that's not ready yet 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.160 will be much lighter in color or even white. The 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.680 skin should be firm and not the least bit mushy 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.600 or soft. That watermelon is ready for the compost. We 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.200 talked about all that on our ride the other day, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.320 and I sat in awe of his tails of watermelon 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:04.280 knowledge until he told me he put salt on it. Me. 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.360 I'm not bold enough to tell The folks from Charleston, 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:12.520 South Carolina, Leesburg Florida, or most especially our very own 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.800 our Kans and brother Melville Dylan that what they made 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:20.240 wasn't good enough, but I could fix it, I simply 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:24.600 adding salt, No, sir, not me. So why do people 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:29.040 do it well? People say sprinkling watermelon with salt is 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.920 traditionally a Southern thing, Like we ain't getting blamed for 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:36.840 enough stuff already. Supposedly the opposed and flavor brings out 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.320 the sweetness of a fresh watermelon, and somehow it makes 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.720 it taste even sweeter. I'm gonna have to ponder on that. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:46.840 But some folks like it that way and that's cool. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.720 Just don't salt the whole thing before we start eating. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.240 That could cause some consequences and repercussions. Just share it 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.880 and let everyone have it the way they want it. 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.680 But man, if there was ever a food that was 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.160 meant to be shared, it's a watermelon. I went coon 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.200 hunting a few nights ago on the fourth of July 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.720 with my friends Michael Roseman and Noel Goodwin, just an 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.920 unplanned Arkansas summer coon hunt. When we caught the nighttime 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.440 temperature below ninety degrees, loaded the dogs, and an hour 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.600 later we were standing in the white river bottoms, sweating 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.600 spread skew the dope on one another and wishing it 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.240 was fall. The dogs were struggling to find the track 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:25.840 because the bandidos don't stir much when it's hot either, 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.719 and we were all rethinking our decision to go hunting. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.280 And then I pulled out a medium sized watermelon I 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.000 brought in the drink cooler that I didn't tell them about, 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.439 and it was all smiles. Michael said, I don't care 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.840 if these dogs do tree. We fitn't eat this watermelon. 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:43.240 And we did and it was cold and it was 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.600 good and it was seedless. So where in the world 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:52.119 did that come from? Well, I'll tell you. The trick is, 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:56.359 they crossed two watermelons that are genetically different enough that 0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:01.639 the resulting hybrid seed is sterile. So the seed's created 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.920 by the cross or real seeds, but they grow into 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:09.119 plants that cannot produce their own seed. Does that sound familiar, Well, 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.440 if you're a bear grease follower of any measure, it 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:15.760 ought to what these folks are doing or making watermelon mules. 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:18.320 Now I know I done went from the garden to 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.400 the barn, but stay with me. Mules don't make mules. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.280 A cross between a female horse and a male donkey 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:27.760 makes a mule. Mules can do lots of things, but 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:30.960 they can't make more mules. So by crossing a horse 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.960 and a donkey, two separate sets of genes that are 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.800 similar enough to be compatible but not actually the same, 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.760 we get an animal whose reproductive parts are sterile. Seedless 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.520 grapes made the same way different species of grapes across 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.600 to create a mule grape, which has no seeds. But 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.200 seedless grapes are easy to reproduce because once you have 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:55.879 one plant, you can just take the cuttings off of 0:18:55.920 --> 0:19:00.560 it to plant and make some more watermelons. Not so fast, 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.919 my friend. They ain't as easy because you have to 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:07.960 produce new hybrid seeds every year, and there's only one 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.520 species of watermelon to use for the crosses. To get 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.359 two kinds of watermelons that are nearly but not quite 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.679 genetically compatible. The trick is to change the number of 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.119 chromosomes in one of them. And because I know that 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.160 there's some folks right now that want to hear how 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.159 it's done, I'm going to tell you the rest of 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.680 y'all just hang on just a little bit longer, you're 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.280 going to learn something to impress your friends and intimidate 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:37.640 your enemals. Since nineteen thirty seven, plant scientists have been 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.200 able to double the number of chromosomes in a plant 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:45.720 by treating them during cell division with a chemical called 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:50.840 culture scene. Colchi sine is a natural extract from the 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.400 autumn crocus flower, which has been used as a natural 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:58.679 medicine for gout for thousands of years. Normal watermelons have 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.320 two copies of the the chromosomes in each cell. They're 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:07.200 called diploid. The culture scene treatment doubles that from twenty 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:12.480 two to forty four, and that's called tetraploid. Almost done, y'all, 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.960 don't fail me. Now here's the trick. When the tetraploid 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:21.199 watermelon flour is pollinated with the diployed watermelon flour, a 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:25.160 triploid watermelon is created that has three chromosomes in each cell. 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:27.960 This watermelon will have seeds that will grow to be 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:32.960 seedless mule watermelons. Now that made my head hurt, But 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.360 now I know, and you do too. You don't see 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.119 folks gathering enough to eat tomatoes unless there's bacon and 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:44.080 bread clothes, strawberries, they're great. But again, pull one of 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.840 them out and cut it in half, and it's doubtful 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:49.480 you'll get a second look. But try that with a 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:52.600 watermelon and just see how long it takes for the 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:56.639 folks to gather up and socialize. It could also just 0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:00.280 make you want to invite folks into share. I'm going 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.920 to share a special memory of mine as a reward 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.119 for those of you that lived through that seedless watermelon explanation. 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:09.400 One summer day, my dad and I were headed home 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:12.679 from his work. We'd been all over southeast Arkansas that 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.080 day visiting commercial chicken farms. Now, his title for the 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.439 job that he did for Valmac, the company that would 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:23.359 eventually be acquired by a couple of different corporations before 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:28.440 finally becoming Tyson Foods was serviceman. It was his job 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.919 to drive to all the contract chicken farms in his 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:35.160 assigned area and help the farmers produce the best chickens 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:39.280 they could. If they needed to update equipment, a batch 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.719 of medicated feed, or anything related to raising good chickens, 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:46.119 it was his job to communicate that to the farmer. Now, 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:47.760 I didn't know that I didn't work for him too, 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.520 because in the summer. I was right there in the 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.959 truck with him. Somewhere along the way on our visits 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:57.119 to one of the many farms, somebody had given us 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.919 a watermelon. It was a black diamond, our favorite, a big, 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.480 dark emerald green giant of a watermelon. And I couldn't 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:07.600 wait to get home, so weekud busted wide open. In 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:09.680 less than two miles from our house, we passed the 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:14.159 home of mister Julius Robinson. Mister Julius was retired and 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:17.280 had been for as long as I could remember. He 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:19.959 was retired from what I assumed, because I don't know 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:22.840 what had been a lifetime of farm work, or in 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.560 the logwoods, or in one of the timber mills, which 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:28.040 is what the majority of folks did in that area. 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:32.439 Small truck farms and anything related to the hard labor 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:36.639 end of the timber industry was the biggest employer. It 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.239 was hard work, but people were happy, seemed to make 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:44.200 it all right. They raised crops. Youngins went to church 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:48.240 and visited with one another. He was born in nineteen 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:52.480 o two, when Teddy Roosevelt was president, and nine years 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.720 before the Chevrolet Brothers got together in Detroit, Michigan to 0:22:56.800 --> 0:22:59.480 start the company that would eventually build the truck that 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:02.520 he was set on. And on this day, when we 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:05.720 passed mister julius house, he was sitting there where I 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.720 had seen him sitting a million times before. His old 0:23:09.760 --> 0:23:12.199