Please read text!
South African Spiky Cucumber Cucumis Zeyheri Seeds
You won’t see this one for sale very often. Packet of 20+seeds, so there is plenty there to get you started!
It’s a rare cucumber from Southern Africa that’s mostly grown as an ornamental, and for the edible leaves.
It does not get powdery mildew and other fungal infections, as most other cucumber family plants do, and is showing promise in breeding programs due to it’s ability to hybridize with other Cucurbitaceae.
They are eaten as leafy green like spinach normally, but if your hungry you can eat the fruit too.
Just a warning, it is very very bitter though, even I don’t like them, which is really saying something!!!
Used in Africa as a food, and as a medicinal plant for thousands of years.
The ripe yellow fruit can be crushed and used as a “fish poison” (It removes and or binds up the oxygen in the water and the fish float).
Very high in saponins, which are a naturally occurring group of chemicals that are used commercially to treat many diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, blood cancers and lung cancer among others.
The leaf is really quite good when young and tender, just roughly chopped, splash soy sauce and sesames seeds, and stirfried.
Equally good for wrapping fish and garlic then steaming it, just like you do with aluminium foil.
Quite good really, with sort of a nutty flavour to it that you don’t get with most greens?
And even more importantly, it looks really really cool!
Seriously, that’s the natural colour not photoshopped!
Grown by us organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!
