SECOND SLICE: THE MYSTERIOUS BLUE WATERMELON

DEE ASKS: Probably 20 years ago, my uncle used to drive to the southern heel of Missouri and into Arkansas to purchase vegetables and fruit to bring back to mid-Missouri and sell. On one of his trips, he brought back an unusual watermelon to show his friends and family. The melon had seeds, but the flesh of the watermelon was blue. Has anyone else heard of this blue-fleshed watermelon? We have been trying to find another one in recent years, but everyone we ask in that area says they’ve never heard of them.

As soon as I read your question, Dee, I was immediately consumed by an urge to track down this mysterious blue watermelon. I personally have never heard of a blue watermelon (Although I’ve seen yellow watermelons), so I asked some of my watermelon farming friends about it. Much to my dismay, they had never heard of it either.

Then I went online in search of the elusive watermelon and could only find the photo on the right of what looks like a very blue watermelon, but I think the picture might be the result of editing magic. (As you pointed out in a follow-up to my answer, it’s too much of a coincidence that the watermelon matches the cabinets and that everything else in the picture has sort of a bluish tint.)

It might be possible to create a blue watermelon using dye, but growing a blue watermelon by natural means would appear, I’m afraid to say, impossible. And so, the mystery remains unsolved … for now.