It smelled... different.

Carroty watermelon. Photo is mine.
By DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
United States
August 18, 2021 3:43am CST
I cut into a watermelon a few days ago with great difficulty... I thought my knife was dull, so sharpened it. I still had difficulty cutting the watermelon slices. It was really odd... Pretty walked into the kitchen and asked me if I'd been cutting carrots. No, just the watermelon. The smaller knife, the one I use to remove the watermelon meat from the rind, also had trouble cutting through the watermelon. When Pretty ate the first bite, she said the watermelon tasted like... sweet carrots. I had to agree with her. The watermelon was good but not what we normally expected. It was like we were crunching raw carrots between our teeth. Pretty set her bowl back on the counter and told me I could eat this watermelon by myself, she didn't want any of it. Have you ever cut into a watermelon and tasted carrots before? It took me three day to eat it all...
73 people like this
79 responses
Cahaya
@cahaya1983 (11116)
• Malaysia
18 Aug 21
Hm that is strange. I've never eaten watermelons that taste like carrots before. And they're usually very easy to slice. The colour doesn't look as red as the usual watermelon colour too, or maybe it's just the ligthing in the picture?
11 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
No, you're right. The color was more of a pinkish-red rather than the dark red of a normal tasting watermelon. The butcher knife even popped out of the watermelon when I turned it to cut deeper into it. (It jumped out of the melon onto the floor, after cutting across the top of my foot. Pretty doctored me up and I cleaned the knife before going back to work on the melon again.)
7 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@spiderdust It was just like cutting into a tough carrot.
2 people like this
Kelli M
@spiderdust (14760)
• San Jose, California
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil That's a tough melon!
4 people like this
Fleur
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 21
That is peculiar. If anything I would have thought it might taste more like cucumber or similar. I take it you suffered no ill effects? I wonder if watermelons can be affected by other plants growing nearby?
6 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@Fleura I wouldn't have thought so but ... it sure tasted like carrots to us.
4 people like this
Fleur
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil Some herbs are alleged to improve the flavour of different crops when grown nearby (such as thyme or borage with strawberries, basil or cilantro/coriander with tomatoes. So something similar could be happening!
3 people like this
Fleur
@Fleura (30541)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil I'm sure they can't interbreed, but sometimes plants can influence each other if in contact or nearby.
4 people like this
hotsummer
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
18 Aug 21
maybe it is not yet ripe that is why it is hard to cut through. but looking at the color, it is a bit orange also. i do enjoy the softness and crunchiness of watermelon. So it would not be enjoyable if it is hard.
4 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
It tasted ripe... but yes, it had an orange tinge to the meat. Yeah, Pretty didn't like how crunchy it was. It made my jaws hurt eating a bowl of it. I don't normally have a problem like that.
1 person likes this
hotsummer
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil maybe it is an oversized carrot then. maybe you should have cooked it as you would cook carrot.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@hotsummer It tasted like watermelon with an aftertaste of carrot. I don't think it would have been good cooked.
1 person likes this
Anna
@LadyDuck (472087)
• Switzerland
18 Aug 21
This never happened to me, sounds weird.
4 people like this
Anna
@LadyDuck (472087)
• Switzerland
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil Is this a new variety? Even those not fully ripe are never too hard to cut.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@LadyDuck No... it's the same variety Walmart always carries. That's where we normally buy our watermelons from... Once or twice during the summer there is an older couple who drive down into Arkansas and bring back a trailer full of Arkansas River grown watermelons. When we see them (They park their truck/trailer across the highway from Walmart.) we always buy several melons from them... The watermelons that couple bring back are SOOOO good! We always buy a yellow meat watermelon and two or more red meat watermelons from them.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
That's what everyone has been telling me. (This is really frustrating.)
2 people like this
Scott Andersen
@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Honestly never have, it was probably picked way to early
4 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Anything is possible, I guess. It looked like all the other watermelons around it. We look for the yellow spot on the outside of one. The darker yellow it is and the larger the yellow spot is, the better the watermelon usually tastes. That one sure fooled us, though.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@DocAndersen How did you know that's what I did with it? Are you watching me through my laptop camera again?
1 person likes this
Scott Andersen
@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil as long as you didn't dab any behind your ear and proclaim it cologne all is good!
2 people like this
Raj
@Butterfingers (66583)
• India
18 Aug 21
That's bad, No never experienced it,may be add some black salt and see if it tastes better
6 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
I don't like salt on watermelon. And I've never heard of black salt, anyway.
6 people like this
Raj
@Butterfingers (66583)
• India
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil haha ask vanny, I hope she knows about it
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@Butterfingers I looked up black salt... Why would you guys put salt into a burner to turn it black. The article didn't explain that. Thank you for the suggestion, Raj. Yes, I'll ask @vandana7 ... Can you explain about black salt to me? And have you ever eaten or heard of a watermelon that tasted like carrots?
3 people like this
stanley777
@stanley777 (9402)
• Philippines
18 Aug 21
That is quite peculiar, never experienced that.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
I have no idea why it would taste like that...
3 people like this
Juliaacv
@Juliaacv (51467)
• Canada
18 Aug 21
No, that is strange.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
I'm hoping someone on myLot either knows what caused the watermelon to smell and taste odd or can point me to some article that explains it. So far, nobody else knows anything about it, either.
2 people like this
Marlina
@marlina (154130)
• Canada
18 Aug 21
No, never
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
It didn't taste bad. Just odd...
2 people like this
Eva James
@wolfgirl569 (108301)
• Marion, Ohio
18 Aug 21
I never have and would have fed that to my chickens
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
It tasted like watermelon with a carrot aftertaste. It wasn't bad, just really crunchy. It made my jaws ache by the time I finished a bowl full. We threw one that tasted like nothing but plain water in the trash. (I took one back to Walmart that tasted like cucumbers a couple of months ago.) I don't have anything to feed stuff like that to except Pretty and she wouldn't eat it.
2 people like this
Eva James
@wolfgirl569 (108301)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil Those are all strange tastes for melons.
Vicki, #1 Creek Girl
@1creekgirl (41772)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Did it make you sick? That's really weird.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
No, but it did make my jaws ache after eating a bowl of it. I mean it when I say it crunched like carrots between my teeth. It was as hard as raw carrots but tasted okay-ish... just carroty watermelon.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@1creekgirl I really wish there was a way I could have shared it with people on myLot so everyone could see/taste/feel how it really was.
2 people like this
Vicki, #1 Creek Girl
@1creekgirl (41772)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil That is truly weird!
2 people like this
Erly Maglangit
@cacay1 (83581)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil, that might be ghost carrot for it tastes like carrot or the twin of melon.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Maybe that's what it was. I wouldn't doubt it.
2 people like this
Erly Maglangit
@cacay1 (83581)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
19 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil so awesome melon tastes like melon.
paigea
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
18 Aug 21
No, weird. But we have been very unlucky with watermelons lately. No flavour.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
We usually buy two or three at a time since we eat them so fast. We just happened to only buy one that time, thank goodness. We bought two more yesterday and I cut a new one around 3 am. It tastes like watermelon without any aftertaste. When you go to pick out a watermelon, look to see how much yellow is showing on the outside of it. That's where the watermelon was lying on the ground. If the area is large and dark yellow, it's good and ripe and should have a nice flavor. (Hopefully you won't get one that tastes like carrots. )
2 people like this
paigea
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
19 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil I will try.
Jojo
@Sojourn (13837)
• India
18 Aug 21
Maybe the watermelon wasn't ripened fully yet.
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
I think it was fully ripe. But maybe it wasn't. I don't know what was wrong with it...
2 people like this
prashu
@prashu228 (37521)
• India
18 Aug 21
so finally only you ate it... I never had watermelon that tastes like carrot.. i wonder what made the watermelon taste like carrot..
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Yes, I ate it myself. Pretty didn't like the flavor. I don't know. I've never heard of one tasting like a carrot before.
3 people like this
Marie
@Tampa_girl7 (50546)
• United States
18 Aug 21
That has never happened to me. If you ate it all I suppose it was an unusual experience, but not a bad one.
2 people like this
Marie
@Tampa_girl7 (50546)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil I like carrots, but if I was expecting watermelon I’d be disappointed.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@Tampa_girl7 Yeah, Pretty said she wasn't going to chew that hard just to eat watermelon. I didn't mind...
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Yeah, it's one I'd [refer not to repeat, too.
1 person likes this
rakski
@rakski (126157)
• Philippines
18 Aug 21
No, not yet. that is really odd
3 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
Yes, it was... I have no clue why it would taste like carrots, either.
3 people like this
Kimberley
@mom210 (9115)
• United States
27 Aug 21
no but may it grew next to carrots or cross pollinated with carrots. very strange for sure.
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
30 Aug 21
I asked a professor at the local research center and he'd never heard of something like that, either. (He did assure me that carrots can't cross pollinate with watermelons, though.)
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
31 Aug 21
@mom210 I mentioned it at the service desk but they said nobody else complained. *shrug*
1 person likes this
Kimberley
@mom210 (9115)
• United States
31 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil it would be interesting in the store got any complaints about it.
1 person likes this
Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Sep 21
Wow, never had that happen before. Are you sure you don't have Covid? You know...the whole taste and smell thing. lol
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
1 Sep 21
I'm positive. We had just gotten tested when we cut that melon open.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
1 Sep 21
@moffittjc In your dreams.
1 person likes this
Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121736)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Sep 21
@DaddyEvil Positive? You tested positive for Covid?
1 person likes this
Sam Charles
@S4mmyboy (3266)
• Mumbai, India
18 Aug 21
DE did you buy this from the supermarket or is it from your garden?
2 people like this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
We bought it at Walmart.
1 person likes this
DE
@DaddyEvil (137695)
• United States
18 Aug 21
@S4mmyboy No... I would have thrown it away if it was from my garden.
1 person likes this
Sam Charles
@S4mmyboy (3266)
• Mumbai, India
18 Aug 21
@DaddyEvil ohkkk... I thought that it is from your garden..
1 person likes this