The cuke that wasn't.

This spring, Horseshoe sent me several veggie plants in the mail. In with the peppers and tomatoes were a couple of cucumber plants. One was a bush cuke and the other, unlabeled, he said was a lemon cuke.

I've battled powdery mildew on my poor cukes, spraying them carefully with baking soda and dish soap dissolved in water, as suggested. We got two cukes from the bush cuke plant, but all its leaves are turned to dust and I don't hold much hope for the tiny other fruit to develop any further.

The lemon cuke seemed to be doing great despite the powdery leaves. It started forming fruit and I was so excited! He said they'd be ripe when they turned yellow.

They keep growing, but not fading to yellow. As a matter of fact, they look like little watermelons...

So, I wrote to Shoe and he told me this:

Hah! Nope, not a cuke! If that is about the size of a tennis ball or so it is a "plumgranny"!...A plumgranny (a.k.a. "Queen Anne's pocket melon") is not a very edible veggie...they were used in the bygone days when people didn't bathe so much and were carried in people's folds in their robes/pockets to mask their body odor.

Let it get a tan color before you pick it (or let it get "overly ripe")...it has a great smell and you'll see why those folks used it for said purpose!

So, not only have I been babying this plant under the assumption I could actually eat its fruit, but now he tells me we stink!

LOL!! Just kiddin' Shoe. It is pretty funny, though. I knew those couldn't be cukes!

This message was edited Aug 8, 2005 10:16 PM

LOL! Too funny, and what an interesting tidbit of vegetable trivia, to boot!

Beautiful picture. How about adding it to Plantfiles?
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/32107/index.html

Thanks! I did last night -- they must still be in queue.

that's hilarious!

Okay, the fruit on this thing is getting big. It's 4" long now and still growing. It's only beginning to change color a little...Shoe, is this definitely a plumgranny? In the picture above, it was about 2 or 3" long.

This message was edited Aug 18, 2005 9:47 PM

Hah! Folks, we've all been grinning over this episode over at Ellen's site.

Yes, GW...that's a plumgranny for sure! I Just picked some more this morning. Here are some to look at, and they are so perfume-y! Will keep on on me desk, one in the van, one in the house, etc. Hmmm...perhaps right now I should be carrying one in my pocket!!

(me with my hand up jumping up and down over here)I HAVE ONE, I HAVE ONE, TOO!!!! Hehehe, and it actually decided to put out some little melons, about the size and color of GW's first pic. I stuck it in the bathtub with MistyMeadow's potatoes and some carrots of a different color (whites, yellows and purples) and it is draping itself rather decorously over the edge and onto the grass. Probably trying to get away from the dying potato plants.

Okay, Shoe, I'll take your word for it. That biggest one is getting more orangey today and there are several working their way up to its size.

That sounds like a pretty bathtub (I take it it's outside? LOL!). Do you have pictures?

lol, we live in the hills, but not QUITE that far back! It was formerly (after being an actual BATHtub) a water trough for thirsty heifers. It just began this new life (who says reincarnation isn't real?) this summer. The raised bed behind it is the one that Stan made for me so I can have a veggie garden without bending or kneeling. He's a sweety!

( you better like this pic, Kim, it's taken 5 minutes to post it! Don't ask!! lol)

That's cool, Kathleen. What better raised bed than that?

Well, I've picked a couple of the plumgranny melons since they've begun ripening. They have a pleasant scent, but not all that strong. I left one on the vine longer this time and picked it today. It smelled nice, but not so strong I'd probably notice it unless it was up by my nose. The taste was very bland, not appetizing to me at all.

Since I came through Nancy's apartment when returning from the garden, I left the melon on the steps so I'd not forget it when I brought up the laundry. Well, I forgot it down there and also left the basement door open when I came back upstairs.

Not to worry, though, because Emma went downstairs to visit grandma and when she came up, she had a new, fragrant ball in her mouth.

It kept wanting to roll away, but she pursued it with what can only be called dogged determination.

Like I said, I thought they tasted pretty bland, not good at all. But Emma, well, she was impressed.

When I removed it from her, I had her rapt attention!

Come to me, my Precious!

Sarah liked it, too...

Both girls appear to have some gastric upset, Sarah moreso than Emma. They eat bites of other melon when I have it, but this little one might have been less ripe than what they normally nibble. Hoping for a quiet evening in the dog department. LOL

What do these smell like, at least as close as possible. Sounds like a really neat plant to have around.

Well, they smell sort of cucumbery and melony. It's not like a muskmelon, though. Hard to describe a scent! Evidently dogs are partial to it, at least ours! ;)

Ohhhhhh....very strange, never saw this before , a dog is eating melon. Is he enjoying this?
Very cute dog and looking very gentle also.
Kaleem

Emma came walking in the room with the melon in her mouth. At first, I thought she might just want to play with it like a ball, but then she settled down and began eating it. She and Sarah thought it was very tasty, evidently!

Sarah was eating grass every time I took them outside earlier, so I know her stomach was upset. She never got sick, though.

hah! Great pics!!! Love 'em!!

What a great series of photos Gardenwife. Funnily enough, my cat goes crazy for melon too. It must contain something they need.
Maggi

I think some foods to animals are like Twinkies are to humans; nothing we need, but everything we want at the moment! ;)

My kitties love melon too! And green peppers.

Henry will eat bites of watermelon. It really shocked me. He is a silky pomerainian.
sidney

Ya'll be careful...my brother had a dog that LOVED bananas! They actually had to hide them way up on a high shelf to keep them away from the dog. (Large, long-legged type dog.)

Reason was...that poor dog's rear sphincter muscles just couldn't seem to have any holding power, if ya know what I mean. :>(