Lemon cucumber in the garden

This morning we picked our first lemon cucumber (Cucumis sativus) from our huge vine! Carlos has been growing this fruit from seed that we brought back from Washington in August -- this vine is so huge! Lemon cucumbers are spherical and light yellow with a light cucumber-ish taste.

Cucumbers are members of the squash plant family (Cucurbitaceae) and are monoecious which means that both male and female flowers are produced on the same plant (as opposed to dioecious species that produce male and female flowers on separate plant individuals). In this cucumber, the male flowers are produced first, then the female flowers. You can distinguish the different flowers by the presence or absence of an enlarged ovary (baby cucumber) at the base which female flowers have and males don't.

We will eat our lemon cucumber tonight since they ripen quickly and it might go bad.