Video: Watch The Animated Story Of The Bradford Watermelon. A Melon Men Died For.

Here's an excerpt from Mind Of A Chef Season 2 where Dr. David Shields, from the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, tells the story of the Bradford watermelon. So what exactly is a Bradford Watermelon — and why does it deserve three minutes of your attention? "There is a problem with watermelons," says Dr. Shields with drama in his Carolina drawl. "A watermelon will cross with any gourd, cucumber, pumpkin or squash. So you will have to keep it a mile apart from any other vegetables, or it will form a vegetable mongrel." So what's a melon fan to do? Isolate the melons from all other vegetables. And, bottom line, protect the patch. Here's an animated short from the recently aired "Seeds" episode of Mind Of A Chef with Sean Brock, about how the sweetest melon known to man, the Bradford watermelon, was protected from melon thieves and various agricultural raiders.

Watch the entire Mind Of A Chef episode here and check local listings for the PBS station airing the next episode featuring Sean Brock.

Edit note: Mind of a Chef is a production of Zero Point Zero, the parent company of Food Republic.