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African Horned Melon

May 2, 2009 @ 17:56 By Gavin Webber 10 Comments

Feeling Horny?  Well this fruit is for you!

African Horned Melon

The African horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus) is an annual vine, which looks like an oval melon with horned-like spikes.  This strange fruit originates from Africa (funny about that), but really came from my front garden.  They are about the size of an apple cucumber, and belongs to the cucumber and melon family.

Horned African Melon Cut

I managed to buy the seeds from the Diggers Club catalogue, and planted the seeds in November last year.  I had 3 seeds germinate out of about 10 I planted, and transplanted them when the first true leaves were showing.  The vine grew to about 2 metres long, and I harvested these 7 fruit just from one vine today.  According to Wikipedia the fruit is supposed to be bright yellow or orange when ripe, but can be eaten when mature green like these ones.  They will ripen like bananas once picked.

This is what the vine looks like.  Click picture to enlarge.

Aftican Horned Melon

Bit of a rambling vine with small leaves, and quite drought tolerant.  I watered them once a week during summer with grey water from the washing machine, and there are still about 10-12 more fruit on the other two vines.  I want to see if the flavour changes when the vine dies over winter (if it does).

So what does it taste like?  Well, I thought it tasted a bit like a just ripe banana crossed with a cucumber and a lemon.  A different sort of taste, with it less sour than a passion fruit and the sweetness being very subtle.  It was great as a snack and I ate it like a kiwi fruit with a teaspoon.  My girls thought it was too sour, and thought it resembled snot and have hence titled it the green snot fruit.  They are a funny lot!  The seeds are covered with a gel like substance a bit like a pomegranate.  They would probably be easy to juice.

The horns are spiky to touch and I picked them with gloves on.  Not cactus like spikes, but enough to hurt you if you were not careful.

Someone else liked them as well.  I accidentally dropped some of the seeds on the floor and Holly lapped them up and begged for more.  Is nothing sacred?

Horned African Melon Holly

The fruit is marketed as the Kiwano in Japan and the US, and grown in New Zealand and California and from what I can tell are about USD$10 each!  It is eaten, but apparently are used mostly for decoration and I can see why.  The fruit looks like it came from an alien planet.

Would I grow them again?  In a heartbeat.  They are so low maintenance and would probably climb a trellis even though I let them sprawl on the ground.  They are an unusual fruit, but a good talking point in any organic food garden.  If you can grow cucumbers then you can grow the African horned melon.  I am going to try more crazy looking fruit again next year.

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Filed Under: fruit, Gardening, Organic, Sustainable Living

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. john (dad) says

    May 3, 2009 at 08:42

    they just look like the paddy melons that used to go on the dairy farm, just a bit bigger.

    Reply
  2. Kate says

    May 3, 2009 at 16:14

    I have recently tried mine too, Gavin but I don’t think I would grow them again even though they are hardy. They are sooooo prickly and I didn’t think much of the flavour but if they sell somewhere for $10 each,I will try another one and maybe get used to it! I will save the seeds though and pass them on to anyone who would like them.

    Reply
  3. Carolyn says

    August 18, 2014 at 15:31

    Hi Gavin! I was recently given some Kiwano seeds and wasn’t sure if I could grow them in Melbourne but Google told me you had success – I reckon if you can where you are then I should try them too! I was thinking about sowing earlier than November though, to get the most of the summer heat. Any tips?

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      August 18, 2014 at 22:18

      Hi Carolyn. It do have a good tip. Make sure you germinate them when it is warm. The soil has to be over 25C for them to sprout. After that, treat them like a cucumber and they will flourish.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        August 19, 2014 at 12:42

        Excellent, thanks Gavin! I might give them a head start undercover in a greenhouse, and see how they go! 🙂

  4. Sherrie says

    March 5, 2016 at 11:24

    I’m so glad I found your post. I have had this strange vine come up in my tomatoes and wondered what it was. Today my husband discovered the green fruit!! What an exciting surprise! Don’t know where they came from to self seed in my garden! Have lived here 19 years! Must have been a bird eating lasts years tomatoes that left me the present! Hopefully they ripen and we get to sample the fruit.

    Reply
  5. Jessie says

    June 24, 2019 at 17:06

    You can also eat them green, they taste more like a cucumber but a little sour

    Reply
  6. Lazy K says

    October 28, 2022 at 09:44

    I live in the mountains of New Mexico, USA. I tried growing these melons last year in the garden and they failed (I wasn’t surprised). This summer year I grew them in the greenhouse and 1 plant produced many fruits. Winter is coming and most are still green but I’m told I can pick them and they will ripen “like bananas”. I’ll definitely be saving some seeds and growing them next year!

    Reply

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  1. TGoG Podcast 078 - Suburban Food Farm in August - The Greening of Gavin says:
    September 30, 2014 at 17:01

    […] African Horned Melon […]

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  2. Cucumber and friends - Bello Food Gardening says:
    December 13, 2023 at 14:56

    […] 1. African Horned Melon [Internet]. The Greening of Gavin. 2009 [cited 2021 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.greeningofgavin.com/2009/05/african-horned-melon.html […]

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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