Not really a cucumber

The Armenian Cucumber is actually a type of melon (Cucumis melo var flexuosus), which is long and slender, in which - like the cucumber - the fruits are harvested while still unripe. It is also called the yard-long cucumber, snake cucumber, snake melon, and uri. It should not be confused with snake gourds (Trichosanthes spp.). The skin is burpless, has no bitterness, is very thin and the fruit is almost always used without peeling. If you let it get very long and ripen, the seeds will become tough.

There are a number of variations of the Armenian, usually differing in skin color. The most common are the plain, light green varieties but there are striped varieties with darker skin, and a few with more bumpy texture.

This is a warm season crop that you can direct seed after threat of frost is over, in mid April in Tucson, and let grow all warm-seaon long. Unlike many of our warm-season, fruiting crops, these don’t give up when it gets hot. They seem to love the heat as long as they have proper water, enriched garden soil, and half to full day of sun. Mulching the roots with straw or any coarse mulch is beneficial. Pick when smaller for tender fruits, or if you let mature (fruits can get enormous), you can pickle or cook, or peel the skin (the skin gets tough with maturation).