Cekirdegi Oyali Watermelon

A rare watermelon from Turkey, the name translates to ‘Hand Carved’.  The seeds when dried actually do look hand carved, they develop the most incredible etching as they dry.  It’s wild, and I wonder if there is any other seed on earth that does this. They look like works of art and that is no hyperbole. The watermelon flesh is pink and tastes pretty bland. To be fair to it, I’ve grown it exactly once, and the last ones I tried to eat had sat on my dining room floor for at least a month at room temperature. Strangely, I had accidentally kicked one off a vine prematurely in mid summer so decided to cut it open anyway. The seeds were still white, flesh barely blushing, but it actually tasted sweeter then. I’d actually call it good. So, maybe these are better eaten immature I don’t know. But the seeds are so darn cool I would still grow it just to gaze upon them. 2022 seed.