Sweet discovery at Riverhead Senior Center

Seniors who gathered for lunch at the Riverhead Senior Center this afternoon were surprised to find what looked like an unusual type of tree – a watermelon tree.

Dave Murphy, who helps maintain the center’s grounds, found the fruit hanging from a tree in the center’s garden Friday evening.

“When I first saw it, I thought it was a wasp’s nest,” he said. After getting closer, he realized it was a watermelon.

Its vine had grown up a nearby tree, growing more than 6 feet long. The watermelon was simply hanging, supported by the tree.

He showed it to about 60 seniors Monday afternoon.

“You should have heard their remarks,” Mr. Murphy said. “Yeah, a watermelon tree – right.”

The fruit is just one of many produce plants growing as part of a Cornell Cooperative Extension gardening program for seniors run by Elizabeth Takakjian, community garden educator for Cornell.

Two seniors do most of the labor: Fred Johnson, 73, and Bob O’Rourke, 65,who started growing all of the produce from seed.

The garden also holds pumpkin, tomatoes and cabbage among other trees and flowers.

The duo planted the watermelon plant sometime over the past two years, but had not realized it produced fruit until now.