Lemon Cucumber

This past spring I got lemon cucumber seeds from Botanical Interests to grow in my garden. I decided to try the lemon cucumber seeds chosen because I'd never eaten one of these cucumber varieties before. Due to a series of gardening setbacks, I may not get a chance to eat a lemon cucumber this year, but I'm enjoying growing them.

I started my cucumber seeds late and then pretty much neglected the seedlings and planted them out even later. By the time the cucumber vines were about 10 inches long they were covered in blossoms, but there weren't many bees working in the garden. I watched as the blossoms unfurled, then withered without any signs of fruit being set. I panicked and started to hand-pollinate them, which has worked marvelously. Take that, stupid bees.

Lemon cucumber blossom & leaf.