By Louie Ferrera

In our garden four perfectly round lemon cucumbers sit among a tangle of vines, the largest is the size of a baseball, two of them look like ghostly billiard balls and the third is just downright tiny. The two largest ones have begun to take on streaks of pale yellow as they ripen, These are strange fruit. I never knew that cucumbers could be pale and orb-like until Carol and I began to garden. All cucumbers are supposed to be green and tubular, right?

Lemon cucumbers are not widely available so if you want them you’ve got to grow your own. I’ve only ever seen them at farmer’s markets and even there they are pricey and hard to find. It’s best to peel lemon cucumbers before eating them, as the skin is tough and not very tasty however, a recent visitor of ours stood out in the garden and munched one down like an apple, peel and all. This variety of cucumber does not keep well so once you’ve picked one, you better eat it!

Among the mature fruit on our cucumber plant are several bright yellow, five petal blossoms and a few baby cukes the size of my thumb and smaller. This morning is blanketed in a peaceful layer of fog, the light is flat and diffused, the greens and yellows of this sprawling plant are deep and saturated, its tendrils wrapped wildly around a tepee of thin, six foot poles that were pruned last winter from our plum tree. The cucumbers dangle from the vines like Christmas ornaments, a yellow blossom is the star on top. From the tips of the uppermost leaves hangs a solitary drop of water, tiny crystal balls for the hummingbirds to gaze into. The design of these leaves is exquisite. The largest of them are the size of my palm and fingers stretched apart. Each leaf has three points, a long central point with one on either side, all three bend gracefully forward which allows the dew drops to gather at their tips. Each of these leaves sits at the end of a slender, pale green stalk.

Over the past three months, this plant has provided us with many pounds of sweet, crunchy fruit, but as autumn slowly gathers steam, the vines are beginning to die back, the leaves yellowing and splotchy with brown spots. We sowed and nurtured this plant since spring and in turn it has given us all that it can give. My gratitude is deep.