New Fruit, the Pumpcumber, Invented By Dartmouth Man

A Dartmouth man surprised us by bringing in what he is saying is a brand new fruit that the world has never before seen. Mike Downing told us that he couldn't get into the details about exactly how he crossed a pumpkin with a cucumber, but he did allow us to taste what he is calling the "pumpcumber."

As Mike peeled away the skin on what looked like a fairly normal pumpkin, we immediately began to see, or rather smell, the difference. The pumpcumber smells just like a cucumber. More importantly, the pumpcumber tastes just like a cucumber.

Mike says one major difference between a cucumber and a pumpcumber is its shelf life. While the cucumber has a fairly modest shelf life, a pumpcumber can last much longer--much more like a pumpkin than a cucumber.

Mike is hoping that the combination of the pumpkin-like shelf life combined with the taste of a cucumber might be an appealing characteristic to potential consumers, particularly to restaurants.

The pumpcumber's aesthetically appealing orange color might also be something that restaurants might enjoy adding to salads or other recipes that normally call for cucumbers.

We asked Mike what the pumpcumber seeds taste like when roasted. He told us that he hasn't yet roasted any, because there is much more value to use the pumpcumber seeds to grow more beta trials of the unique fruit.