Posted on 12/23/2005 10:14:27 AM PST by CajunConservative
This one is puzzling thousands of people. St. Bernard Parish, virtually wiped out following Hurricane Katrina, is seeing the spontaneous growth of watermelons. They're everywhere! It's a post-Katrina phenomenon that has even the experts baffled.
"I've never seen anything like this before," said Dr. Ron Strahan of the LSU Ag Center as he surveyed the watermelon infestation.
The fruit, which is normally planted in April, has been sprouting up all over St. Bernard Parish ever since Katrina. Presumably, the seeds were deposited during the hurricane and unusually high temperatures have produced a natural mystery.
"It's just going to be one of those things we're probably not going to be able to explain," said Strahan.
According to Strahan, the clay in St. Bernard absorbed the sunlight, retaining the heat and allowing the melons to grow. A watermelon's consistency is 90 percent water, which means if you eat the St. Bernard Parish melons, you're drinking Katrina juice.
"I don't think I'd want to eat them," Strahan laughed. "I don't think so, but it's just something unusual to look at, maybe take some pictures of and remember this happened after Katrina 2005 and we'll probably never see again."
Katrina may have planted the melons, but bees had to pollinate them, which indicates that growth is possible in St. Bernard Parish following the storm. Even if it is Katrinan melons.
It does have that feel to it. I know that seeing something grow and bear fruit after the amount of devastation that was experienced in that parish is a sign of hope and that life goes on.
I wouldn't expect bacterial contamination (the melon flesh is sealed within the rind) but there could be problems with heavy metals or petroleum derivatives. The question should be easily solvable with some testing. Shoot, it would be cool to have a few Katrina melons at a Christmas or New Years party, and the proceeds would help out the stricken areas.
I heard about those squares, although there is some utility in being able to roll them in a large field. Hae you ever seen a field of a hundred acres of watermelons.
No, I've never seen a 100 acre field of watermelon. It'd be quite a sight.
I'm not sure I have either, but the fields in Southeastern Missouri when I was a boy were immense, and there were lots of them. The land there was perfectly flat.
I lived across the river in Kentucky, but one of my grandfathers lived in a small town not a terribly long way south of Cape Girardeau, home of the inimitable Rush Limbaugh.
---I was wondering about that too since they are such a large percentage of water and there was gas and other stuff in the flood waters. I hope they test them real good before allowing people to eat them.
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