Sow True Seed Lemon Cucumber

One of the new varieties I’ve tried growing this summer is a heirloom cucumber-Cucumis sativus or Lemon Cucumber. The seeds were supplied by Sow True Seed-a fantastic heirloom seed company located in Asheville NC. I’m fortunate to have Sow True Seed sponsor my garden.

This is the description offered about the lemon cucumber:

HEIRLOOM Dapper lemon-yellow round fruits grow on very productive semi-bush plants. Harvest when 3-4″ diameter.

These crisp juicy fruits seem to sit around lazily on the ground, just waiting to plucked because nothing quenches the thirst on a hot day in late July quite like a cucumber. While most people are familiar with the common dark green slicer cukes, they actually come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and even colors. Any cucumber can be pickled, but some varieties are bred for uniformity and girth and are specifically labeled for pickling. Slicers, which are mostly eaten fresh, are thinner and longer with some that can even grow up to two feet if given the opportunity. Nutrients: vitamins A, C, K, B6, folate, thiamin, potassium, magnesium.

As you can see from the photo the lemon cukes are a lovely shade of yellow. Searching through the vines for them gives you the feeling of looking for easter eggs. The yellow is truly striking among all the green.

How do they taste? Like a cucumber. While I love their beauty-they do have slightly larger seeds than the bush pickle cukes I’m partial too.

Are you growing anything new this summer?

Tipper

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13 Comments

  1. Day late and a dollar short – that’s the way its been this year so I didn’t get my Sow True seed planted this spring. I’m thinking I may get some planted shortly – perhaps just half the seed – to try for a fall crop – then plant the others next spring. They’ve been inside out of the sun so hope they’ll be O.K.
    My garden has been strange. The okra didn’t make at all – well, one came up but my husband stepped on it – his loss since he’s the one who likes cucumbers. Everything else was late because of our cool and sort of rainy weather – even the carrots didn’t start to turn bitter until recently. I finally pulled them all and will cook with them. We even had spinach all the way through June!! Here in central Texas that is nothing short of a miracle! Our tomatoes have supports up to 7 feet and they are now lopping over. They haven’t produced many fruit – just enough to keep on the table – a few to freeze – but they are monster plants trying to take over the entire garden. I planted grapes for the first time this year and was surprised that they produced this year. I had a couple of nice bunches but wanted to let my granddaughters pick them – then their visit was delayed two weeks and I didn’t get back to the grapes before they turned to raisins. Did get 5 gallons of juice from our wild grapes.
    Wonder if b.ruth has any daylillies to share or any hollyhock seed from past years. You can give her my email if you have time. I love both but only have a few daylillies.
    Mostly I’ve been trying to coax along my “natives” which I planted this spring.

  2. What a cute cuke! I love ’em, but Bro Tom is allergic to them, so when I recipe calls for ’em, I substitute with raw zucchini which works very well.
    This year, we planted tomatoes, two kinds of peppers, marigolds and morning glories from seed. The only thing that came up well were the morning glories, and they’re such a profusion on the arbor around my kitchen window, we have to keep a watch on it cause it keeps trying to climb through the window around all the sills – closures, locks and all.
    Everything else is tiny and puny, or never came up at all. We don’t know why, cause they WERE tended carefully.
    One thing we did notice is that at least two of our faithful perennials didn’t come up this year – the mums and hollyhocks, that have come up every year since we’ve been here. The unpredictable and intermittent Spring snows must’ve gotten them, but after 4 years of faithfulness from them, we’re really surprised.
    God bless.
    RB
    <><

  3. Hey Tipper,
    I am late posting today…
    Yes, I am growing a couple of new varieties of produce besides the winter squash from Sow True seeds that is doing well.
    Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumbers is my new thang…Melothria scabra…
    65 to 75 days. Cucumber like fruit shaped and colored like a baby watermelon. They can be pickled, but fresh they are supposed to be sweet at first taste and then sour. They fall off the vine when ripe. They need lots of compost, water weekly and fed. Also the vines are very delicate and should always be trellised. I have my sweet tiny vines growing on and climbing up large tomato cages…They are blooming and I saw my first tiny cucumbers the other day about 1/8 of and inch. I just hope they make me some fruit. I was late in getting them planted. They like a Mediterranean type atmosphere and warm weather…sooo we’ll see before long. Also have some new small Black or Purple tomatoes growing, not sure they will make at all, not blooming but pretty plants.
    We also had lots of beautiful daylilies this year…Yes you can eat them fresh right out of the garden without even cooking them. My friend and hybridizer used to walk along with folks when showing them his new varieties, break off a bloom and say, “I just love these flowers so much I could just eat them” and take a big bite…Of course, to the shock to some of the ladies and gents…I can’t bear to eat mine. But I have eaten male squash blossoms…Rolled and stir fried very good!
    Thanks Tipper,

  4. Tipper,
    I just stick to the traditional
    things when I plant a garden, but
    it’s interesting to see someone who is bold enough to try new things. For an awfully long time, my garden was clean as a pen, but the Giant Ragweeds have ’bout taken over,
    especially after it got hot. And
    I’ve got a battle with Japanese
    Beetles that want my White Runners. I catch from 30 to a
    hundred every day and pour them
    devils in the creek. The trout
    love to see me coming with their
    treet. Gardening is a job!…Ken

  5. In Arizona, the True Sow seeds are having varied luck. The sweet potato squash is vining everywhere,big green huge vines. The crookneck and greek red have been beat back by the heat after such a strong start. After it got to 115 degrees those guys looked spindly and sparse. All of the blooms fell off once it was over a 100 degrees. The pretty vine of sweet potato squash has yet to bloom. It just continues to vine. I think I should have kept some seeds and planted in September and maybe had January squash. Oh well one never knows.

  6. at looks lack 1 uv em plum granit thangs 2 me why u wood git a syruprize iffen u bit n2 it an it broke yore teef then u cuddn eat fur 24 airs whil the glew set up hit wood bee dubble bad fur me an mi ol woman cause we share airs

  7. Eva Nell–You actually can eat the buds of day lilies. Stir fried or lightly battered they are quite good. The same is true of squash and zucchini blooms.
    Jim Casada

  8. I tried growing those for a couple of years but my garden is so steep they kept getting loose and rolling through the neighbor’s fence and out into his yard. Of course he claimed he grew them and offered to give me a couple. Since then I’ve been looking for a more squarish variety. Do you know of any?

  9. I have never heard of these; sounds like this would be a something to use in special salad. I must hunt these down in a vegetable department.

  10. I grew lemon cucumbers this Summer, too. I agree it is like searching for Easter eggs to harvest them. I have two in the pickling crock with green cucumbers to see how they taste pickled. Sorrel was new for me this year and is tasty with other salad greens. Hope to try purple or red okra next year.

  11. Tipper: All I am growing are flowers. My day lilly show is just about gone. We were able to keep the deer away FOR THE FIRST TIME ever! But you can’t eat pretty lily blossoms!
    Eva Nell

  12. Tipper, when I was over there this weekend I saw one of those in the bucket of vegetables you carried in out of the garden. I didn’t realize it was a new variety. I thought it was a regular cucumber that was stunted and sun burned. LOL! Had I known it was a new variety I would have had a taste and had I thought I would have known there is too much foliage and rain for sunburned cucumbers. We were so busy this weekend that stunted sunburned cucumber was just a fleeting thought on the very edge of my periphery.

  13. The lemon cucumber is new to me! I was not familiar with it before.
    Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

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