Purple was the original color of carrots, but after 500 years of orange carrots, a Canadian farmer is puzzled why a small patch of his crop has the dark hue.

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Ches Davis said only a half a row of his carrots in his Gambo, Newfoundland, garden came up purple, and expert farmers and gardeners from around the country aren't sure what happened, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports.

Memorial University horticulturist Chris Baird said the original purple carrots became orange after Dutch growers began crossbreeding the vegetable around 1500.

John Gorso, a specialty carrot producer in Ontario, Canada, said he's never seen purple carrots like Davis' crop.

The size and shape are different than the purple carrots Gorso grows.

It can't be the seed either -- no other farmer who bought the same seed batch has come up with the carrots of a different color.