Every year, dozens of Charlotteans take a 4.5 hour round trip to Sumter, S.C. to buy a watermelon — specifically a Bradford watermelon, a prized heirloom varietal that dates to the early 18th century, and until 2012 was thought to be extinct.

Sadly, there will be no watermelon field trips this year. In a statement posted on social media, Nat Bradford of Bradford Watermelon Company announced that this year’s atypical weather has destroyed the 2022 crop.

“The crop started off really well this summer, but the signs of potential crop loss became apparent in the last stages of fruit development over the past two weeks … The crop was just beginning to bloom and set some fruit when we experienced 12 days of rain and clouds. This is very unusual for us in July. During this period of rain and lower sunlight and temperatures there just weren’t sufficient numbers of pollinators to pollinate the fruit adequately. This means less melons, smaller fruit, misshapen fruit, and lack of flavor and sweetness,” said Bradford.

The Bradford variety of watermelon was at one time this country’s most popular watermelon, renowned for its depth of taste and sweetness. However, it has a tender skin which made shipping extremely difficult, so farmers began to grow heartier, if less flavorful varieties. It fell so much out of favor with farmers that the variety was thought to be gone forever. 

It nearly was, except for the small patch maintained by the Bradford family on their farm since colonial days. It was through the efforts of Dr. David Shields, then a professor at the University of South Carolina, that the Bradford watermelon was rediscovered, revived, and found a new legion of fans.

The Bradford watermelon, as well as its namesake, the Bradford family, has been nationally featured on NPR, CBS Sunday Morning, and other outlets.

Unfortunately, fans will have to wait for the 2023 harvest.

“We had Clemson come consult with us in the field two weeks ago to see if there was hope to recover the crop. It was believed that we could get the crop to rebound, and it did to some degree, but as of yesterday I made the determination that the quality was greatly affected and the numbers weren’t there to meet the sales, nor the expectations of size, taste, and quality that you all are looking forward to. It has been a stressful two weeks doing everything we could to recover our watermelon crop, but there is nothing else that can be done,” Bradford said.

“This is very unfortunate. We work with Nat a fair amount, not only his watermelons,” said William Dissen, executive chef & owner of Haymaker in Charlotte and The Market Place Restaurant in Asheville. “His family’s heirloom variety of watermelons is one of the best I’ve ever had the opportunity to taste. Not only is it a wonderful and delicious variety of watermelon but it’s also a unique heritage that’s being passed along for many generations. In this day and age, taking the time to be thoughtful about the ingredients we grow and eat seems to be fleeting. Farmers like Nat are doing great work to keep these flavors and family heritage alive.”

“I was devastated to read about the Bradford crop loss. Their watermelons are a labor of love, and I cannot imagine how they feel,” said Laney Parrish, executive pastry chef at 300 East. “I first learned about the Bradford watermelon at a PCG Symposium a few years ago. I started ordering them that year. I had so much fun experimenting with them- making sorbets separately from the flesh and the rind then swirling them together, rind pickles, and molasses.”

Those who pre-ordered this year’s crop will receive full refunds.

“This is a reminder of how vulnerable our crops truly are, and how much energy – human and environmental – goes into growing the food that nourishes us. I hope they are able to salvage as much as they can to plan, and look forward to a successful growing season next year,” said Parrish.

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