The Famous Bradford Watermelon

At Rumar, this is the time of year when everything is being harvested simultaneously. Careful planning is needed to capture all the crops at their best. Very busy, long days followed by fine tuning the next day’s tasks after prudently reviewing each garden. During one of our recent evening farm walks, Marc and I noticed those familiar large dark green pods appearing in our well-worn melon patch. The Bradfords have arrived! We were first introduced to this variety by one of our CSA members, Mike. He got his hands on a few stamped seeds from the original blood line in the US. From those few seeds we coaxed 4 melons to ripen that year. After saving those seed, the next year we were thrilled with a bountiful crop. From there we have gathered a following of those that look forward to this old style watermelon.

The legendary Bradford was one of the sweetest melon varieties ever created in South Carolina. Prized in the 1800’s they all but disappeared by the 1920’s because its tender rind didn’t ship well. The Bradford family kept their heritage stock alive for all these years and now eight generations later the variety is making a comeback with chefs and food enthusiasts everywhere. Find the Bradford boys @bradfordwatermelons on Instagram and Facebook. These large melons are great for family get together’s or just celebrating the last bit of summer. We are selling our Bradfords through the on-line store at www.rumarfarm.ca

Here is what we have available this week:

Bartlett Pears and Red Clapp Pears

Purple Plums

Melons – Bradford, Black Mountain, Rumar Sweet, Cantaloupe, Honey Dew

Zucchini and Summer Squash

Winter Squash – Red Kuri, Delecata, Honey Nut

Tomatoes – Canning, Cherry, Heirloom, Beefsteak

Cucumbers – Pickling, Slicers

Eggplant

Radish- Black, Watermelon, Easter Egg

Green Onions

Garlic