Crop of the Week: Lemon Cucumber

• Lemon cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are an heirloom cucumber variety dating back to 1894. They are pale to bright yellow, shaped like lemons.

• The lemon cucumber can also go by two other names. The "Joy of Cooking" calls this cucumber an apple cucumber, and because it has tiny black nubs, it has also been called a salt and pepper cucumber.

•  The lemon cucumber is considered to be the most delicately flavored of all cucumbers and rarely is it bitter. The name refers to the shape and the lemony-yellow color of the vegetable and not to its flavor.

• Lemon cucumbers appear to have less of the chemical that makes other cucumbers bitter and hard to digest. That makes them more tempting and many eat them right out of the fridge with a little sprinkle of salt, in sandwiches, salads and even salsas. It's also a good pickling cucumber.

•  Heirloom lemon cucumber acreage in the Yuma area is small as the crop only fits into specific niches within the U.S.

• In all cucumbers, there are five segmented compartments filled with many tender seeds, making it look like a flower. On a veggie platter or in a composed salad, it adds a new color and attractive garnish. But the flavor is what stands out the most in the lemon cucumber as it is sweet and refreshing.

• Cucumbers are a member of the gourd family, along with watermelon and squash, but they are most closely related to cantaloupe.

• Cucumbers are thought to have originated several thousand years ago in India and are a major ingredient in many Indian side dishes used to counter the hot spiciness of many of their dishes. The cucumber has long been associated with “cool” foods such as Spanish gazpacho and Greek tzatziki.

• Today, many of the strangest-looking cucumbers can still be found in Oriental grocery stores, along with their close cousins, oriental melons.

• The field cucumber, which for many years was the most prevalent variety found commercially in North America, evolved from ancient long varieties. It is more compact with a dark, glossy rind. Field cucumbers are often waxed to seal in moisture.

• Store cucumbers unwashed in the refrigerator crisper, where the higher humidity will help keep them crisp. Don't freeze cucumbers - they get mushy if they're too cold. Use them within a week or so of purchase.

Source: Kurt Nolte is an agriculture agent and Yuma County Cooperative Extension director. He can be reached at knolte@cals.arizona.edu or 726-3904.