With its spiky, orange exterior and seedy, green flesh, the African Horned Cucumber looks a bit other worldly.
Its appearance is so striking, it once moonlighted in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a Golana Melon from the planet of Golana. On Earth, however, the fruit grows in the wild across southern Africa.
As a different fruit than most of us are used to seeing, it is quite a decorative fruit with its spiny bright orange-yellow rind and the bright greenish jelly-like pulp inside.
The pulp has a seedy texture, like passionfruit but has smaller and softer seeds.
The taste is something else – think of a combination of cucumber and banana, with the tartness of kiwifruit and lime. Adding a bit of salt or sugar really enhances the flavour.
The flesh can be added to things like salads, fruity salsas, cocktails, smoothies, fruit salads or just simply eat them as they are.
The vines are reasonably easy to grow, just like a cucumber and are usually unaffected by pests and diseases. They like a warm and sunny location but are quite tolerant of light shade as well.
They will grow in poorer type soils, but to maximise your harvest plant in good humus-rich soil. Picking the fruit regularly will encourage the growth of more fruit.
Plant your seeds around 5 mm deep, add a couple of seeds to each planting site and thin out after a couple of weeks if you want, although this really isn’t necessary.
Seeds should be planted around 50cm apart to allow for good air circulation around the plant.
The African Horned Cucumber vines love to climb just like ordinary cucumbers. They can be a rampaging vine so you will need a sturdy trellis to hold them, but they also grow well on the ground.