Brooklyn Pastor Grows Watermelon Business Amid Coronavirus Crisis

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Pastor Clinton Brown is no stranger to good watermelon.

The self-proclaimed "country boy" started helping his family grow black-seeded watermelon and a host of other crops on their Mississippi family farm when he was just 4 years old. Later, he moved to the "watermelon capital of the world," in Georgia, where he's spent the last three decades.

So when Brown came to Brooklyn five months ago and tried to buy his favorite snack, he was in for a surprise.

"I took it home and cut it and it wasn't sweet, it didn't have any seeds — I couldn't believe I paid all that money for that watermelon," said Brown, who'd footed an "outrageous" $39 for the fruit.

The experience, Brown would learn, wasn't unusual in New York, thanks to an age of genetically-modified seedless watermelons and long trips from farms where the fruit was in season.

And it gave him an idea.

"I said to my sweetheart, 'I want to bring some watermelon to Brooklyn,'" Brown said.

The Georgia pastor, who owns a trucking company, began bringing watermelons by the truckload to the borough on July 1, thinking it could be a way to make some extra cash over the Fourth of July since the coronavirus had slowed his usual shipments.

But the success he found turned what Brown envisioned as a temporary side gig into a full-blown business.

Brown has since sold hundreds, if not thousands, of the $10 or $15 black-seeded Sangria watermelons from the back of his truck to eager Brooklynites on a Crown Heights street corner.

"They can’t find them, so they are delighted," he said. "This started as ... another way of making income and it has turned into an actual, legitimate business."

The pastor is now working on taking his business to the next level.

With the help of his girlfriend, Vel, he found several stores to buy his product and is working on branding. One day, he said, he hopes to set up his own fruit stand at a local shop.

Brown said he can use his trucking company to turn a summertime business into a year-round venture by following the in-season product.

He's brought in shipments by visiting farms in three states so far.

"If they're in Canada, I can go get them. If they're in New York, I can go get them. If they're in California, I can go get them," Brown said. "That's what makes our company different."

The truck company also means he can keep his watermelons refrigerated on board until they are ready to be sold, Brown said. That means that they stay fresh days — if not weeks — longer than the watermelons New Yorkers might find at their sidewalk produce stand.

"Seven days later, it's like you’re getting it off the vine," he said.

And, as a pastor, Brown said part of expanding the business will be spreading the love. He hopes to set up discounted watermelon sales at nearby NYCHA complexes.

Doing so — just like bringing real, black-seeded watermelons to Brooklyn in the first place — is personal, he said.

"It was part of African American heritage," Brown said. "Anyone over the age of 40 spent summers at grandma's or grandpa's house, sitting on the front porch eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds — telling stories and reminiscing.

"Watermelon are a part of our culture. It's our fruit."

Brown and his truck can be found on the corner of Bedford Avenue and Empire Boulevard seven days a week, from 1 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 12:30 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. He also delivers for a $10 flat fee in Brooklyn: (470) 588-6057