mouse melons

A couple of years ago, I was looking through a seed catalogue and saw this interesting little cucumber. The Mexican Sour Gherkin. Or "Mouse Melon" because it looks like a tiny little mouse-sized watermelon. They sounded interesting so I tried it and turns out, I love growing them.

The vines are very decorative, delicate yet strong and the plants are beautiful in containers. They seem to grow happily in their containers probably partly because they like heat....they're tough and drought tolerant and don't seem to mind when I miss a watering....



Next year I'll have to give them some prettier trellises to climb so I can take advantage of the beautiful vines....this is a stellar ornamental edible and ideal for urban gardens...or small rural ones....

Abundant harvests every other day from just a few plants....they're still going strong in October....these all got cut in half and tossed into our salad.

Hey! There's a tree frog in my mouse melons!! He doesn't look very happy to see me.

I start the seeds in my greenhouse in early May...they don't like to go out too early here, they need the heat. Three to a pot.
I'll be starting many more of these next spring for sale to Mayne Island gardeners so if you're interested in trying this plant, let me know.

Here they are waiting to get planted into their big pots where they'll grow all summer long. See that little plant growing in the container already? That's a self-sown mouse melon plant. I was growing them in this pot last year and looks like one of the fruit that fell off the vine last fall seeded a new plant for me this spring. Usually I change the soil in the container from year to year but I decided to keep this one so this self-determined little plant could grow on...this is an heirloom plant so seeds are good to save because plants will reproduce true to their origins.

Here's a baby cuke with it's flower just beginning to open.

All grown up and ready to harvest!...almost...the fruit is at it's best to eat when it falls off the vine, but I often can't wait....I've now got a feel for when they're almost ready to fall so most of them that I pick are very loose on the vine....

I found this article on Mouse Melons....some good info.

On the left, a bin full of Mouse Melons that I saw for sale at the Windfall Farms stand at Union Square Greenmarket last fall. First time I've seen these at a market! Here's a quick link little read from their blog regarding "the curious case of the tiny cucumber".

cucumbers

Lots of cucumbers coming out of the hoop house these days. Homegrown cukes are so tender, crisp and sweet. These are 'Diva'. They're my favourites right now for cucumber salad. No need to peel these babies.

These are an english cucumber that I tried for the first time this year...it's ok but not good enough to do again...divas are better for fresh eating, in my opinion. So many different types of cucumbers to try (next year) but for now, divas are a keeper....

The cold June this year made it really challenging to get the cucumbers going...here they are on the right, it was already July in this photo when they finally looked like they were getting stronger. They like it hot.

And here they are again, on the left, a couple weeks later. Nowadays, they're filling up the pathway....many folks trellis their cukes and this would be a good idea here in the hoophouse...to use the space more efficiently. Trellising also encourages the cucumbers to grow straighter.

Once the cukes get to this size, they get big fast! Daily picking keeps them all at a nice size. It amazes me how much they can grow in one day.

Here they are getting bagged up in 1 lb. bags for sale at Happy Tides Health Foods.

My favourite thing to do with homegrown cucumbers: a simple salad with red onion and freshly picked chopped up dill and basil, a little olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and sometimes a dollop of mayo, tossed...delicious summertime taste....