Cukes on parade
A cucumber is a pepo, and, to paraphrase John Lennon, it’s not the only one. A pepo is a fleshy, juicy fruit with a rind. Your obvious first question might be, “So, is a banana a pepo?” No, Molly from San Diego, a banana has a soft peel, and although bananas, pumpkins and cucumbers are all berries, a banana is not a pepo.
Besides being a pepo, cucumbers are ripening now. I planted some in early May and picked four plump ones on June 29, 50 days or so after planting. Once the small pepos emerge from the flowers, a gardener should water regularly and harvest before they get too ripe. Cucumbers might get bitter if not watered sufficiently. I once grew small round orange eggplants that were bitter on purpose– delightful to see, too bitter for me. I prefer bitter-free cukes.
Suyo is a variety of long, narrow cucumbers from China that are never bitter. They might grow to 18 inches, and vines can be all-star productive. All your neighbors will be pleased. I’ve grown cucumbers disguised as lemons and Armenian cucumbers, a very pale green, ribbed smooth-skinned variety that can surpass 18 inches. There are white egg-shaped cukes from the Croatia, and Sikkim, a variety from the Himalayas that is brown and plump like a potato. Cucumbers are versatile.
The typical cucumbers we see around here are dark green, 6-8 inches, and tasty in salads. Poinsett 76 and Marketmore 76 are popular varieties on our continent, but gardeners everywhere have their favorites, and we’ve cultivated them for at least 3000 years. We’ve had plenty time to think about what to do with cucumbers.
Of course, the pinnacle of our ingenuity is making pickles. I still have my dad’s pickle recipe plus some of my own. Don’t follow any of them closely because I’m daring and a free thinker, and, with that in mind, here are good ideas that make good use of all those cucumbers that soon will be upon us.
Mostly, we eat cucumbers, but a different traditional use of a cucumber slice is to close your tired eyes and place cucumber slices on them for a while. That is for short-term relief, but a more holistic solution would be to spend more time outside among plants or by water and less time looking at screens. Some of us look at screens too much.
Eating cucumbers is easy. Make a video of yourself wearing a floppy hat, smiling big, and biting off the end of a Silver Slicer, and post it on your favorite social media. Maybe you’ll get followers, and then you can try a carrot or parsnip and be famous. Not me, except for the floppy hat. However, cucumbers are usually eaten raw. I take cucumber and bell pepper slices to work for snacks. That’s me in the corner crunching.
Some discussions of cucumbers get technical with words like tabbouleh and tzatziki, so let’s jump in. The versatility of cucumbers is put to the test in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern recipes, but many begin with cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil and herbs such as parsley and mint. If you stop there, you have a refreshing summer salad.
But wait! Daring, free thinking meal preparers squeeze lemons, limes or tangerines onto the mix, or add sweet pepper, onion and summer squash bits. Or yogurt. Or other herbs. It’s summertime, and the recipe is easy.
Also, you can use the slices to dip hummus or prepare cold cucumber soup, but who am I to say what you should do with your cucumbers, except you do intend to make pickles… right? You can make quick and easy pickles by pouring hot brine (vinegar and water) over a jar packed with cukes. Add dill, garlic or all kinds of herbs for flavor, salt if you like salt, or sugar for sweetness. Keep your famous jar in the refrigerator, and the product should last for a season. Or use the boiling water bath method and your pickles will last a year or more.
If you treat your plants well, you’ll have a pantry packed with pints of pickled pepos.