Unique & Delicious Heirloom Cucumber Varieties for your Home Garden

The Marketmore Cucumber is what most people think of when they think of cucumbers. It is what you will most likely find in a grocery store. However, if you grow these at home, you will notice that garden-fresh tastes so much better. 

These cucumbers have a crisp and delicious flesh that works well for slicing and holds up in salads. They have a dark green skin that is thicker than some other heirloom cucumbers and is often peeled before eating. But without the added wax from commercial growers, you might find you like them just as well with the skin on. 

Marketmore Cucumbers are usually ready to eat when they are 8 to 9 inches long. These are a vigorous grower and produce a lot of cucumbers per vine. 

Despite the name, Lemon Cucumbers do not taste like lemons. The name comes from their color and round shape. 

Lemon Cucumbers are easy to grow and have a sweet, mild flavor without any bitterness. (So unlike a lemon!)  Their small size makes them just the right size for a one-person serving. Perfect for snacking on your daily walk through the garden. They have a thin skin, so no peeling is necessary. Pick them when they are small and just starting to turn yellow. 

They are usually eaten raw but can also be pickled and will add fun variety to your winter pantry. 

Lemon Cucumbers grow well in containers and are more tolerant of cooler temperatures than other cucumbers.

This popular variety has a unique characteristic for cucumbers. Most cucumbers have separate male and female flowers, but Beit Alpha Cucumbers are parthenocarpic, which means they don’t need pollinators. So this variety is one to choose if you are growing in a greenhouse or another situation without a lot of access to natural pollinators. 

Beit Alpha Cucumbers have a tender, smooth, dark skin and a mild flavor. They are best harvested when they are 5 to 7 inches in length and about an inch in diameter. These are great little cucumbers for enjoying right out of the garden and keeping whole to drop in your lunch box.

 

Developed by the National Pickle Packers, this cucumber is your ideal cucumber for pickling. The little cukes are bulky and crisp. They have dark spines on a thick green skin. Their thin skin makes it easy for them to absorb the delicious pickling flavors. Try our homemade pickle recipe.

You will want to harvest National Pickling Cucumbers when they are around 2 to 3 inches for gherkins, or you can wait until the cukes reach 5 to 7 inches for slicing. 

Cucamelons are also called Mexican sour gherkin. These cucumbers look like tiny watermelons, but inside, they are green with tiny seeds. They have a crunchy texture and taste like cumbers but with a lemony sour tang.