After last year’s no show we have, at long last, harvested our first mouse melons*. No veg we’ve grown has tantalised with so much expectation or received as much care and attention, but now we can finally taste the fruits of our labours. So was it all worth it? Have we produced the sweet success of melon, or the fetid stench of rodent? Here’s the all important verdict…
Appearance
A grape wrapped in green mackerel skin.
Texture
Firm crunch with a soft centre.
Taste
Like a cucumber filled with a delicate sweet and sour cucumber sauce.
Yield
Our six surviving plants are generating no more than a steady trickle. Not as great as they’re made out to be.
Uses
• Eat them raw in a salad.
• Pickle them.
• Add as a garnish to a cocktail.
The verdict
Some folk coo over their cuteness but we’re less taken in by looks alone. They’re perfectly enjoyable but somewhat overrated. Best to use for those show-off cocktails.
*AKA Mexican sour gherkins or cucmelons depending on whose seeds you buy
Hi,
Am Giannis Doskaris, from Poros isl., Greece.
Αμ αν Αgriculturist, and I want to cultivate mouse mellon. I need at least 2000 seeds and I want to know what is the harvest per plant (in kilos).
Thanks
Giannis
Hi Giannis, many thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately I can’t answer that question. We only grew a few plants and had a slow trickle of mouse melons throughout summer. I wouldn’t know how many or what they weighed in total. Best of luck with growing yours.
I grew cucamelons form plants I bought at a garden centre. James Wong extols their virtues but I was very disappointed with the yield. Flavour quite nice, but wouldn’t bother with them again.
It’s official then: cucamelons are overrated! I’m sticking to cucumbers.