Cucumber seedlings
How many cucumbers can one family eat?
We may soon find out. Somehow I’ve collected seed packets for eight different varieties of cucumbers–three slicing, five pickling. There was nothing to do but plant some of each to see how they all compare. Where the snap peas once stood, we now have a long row of cucumber seedlings transplanted from their seed trays.
Last year was a disaster for cucumbers. I noticed other gardeners here in the District of Columbia also had problems with cucumber beetles. That was new for me. But I planted my cukes extra early, hoping for a longer harvest. This year I’m trying to avoid the larval stage of the cucumber beetle entirely by planting my cucumbers later than usual. They’ve also been placed at the opposite end of the garden. Hopefully these simply measures are enough to defeat the cucumber beetle.
We are very fond of cucumber pickles. In fact, we’ve never planted a slicing cucumber before. All our cukes go into either a salt brine to ferment, deli style, or get canned in a vinegar solution for consuming later. For me, planting cucumbers means Reuben sandwiches with homemade corned beef can’t be far away. (We prefer ours open-face, without the bread, and topped with our own sauekraut.)
But back to business. These are the three slicing cucumbers we’ve planted:
Marketmore, described by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange as “a great, high-yielding 8″ bitter-resistant cucumber.”
Yamato, “an Asian white-spined cucumber similar to Suyo Long but superior in performance and flavor.”
Armenian Yard Long, “distinctively different flavor and texture,” according to Ferry Morse seeds.
The pickling varieties:
Boston Pickling, “medium-green, blunt-shaped fruits are crisp and mild,” says Southern Exposure.
Homemade Pickles, “vigorous plants with good disease resistance, especially developed for home gardeners.”
Arkansas Little Leaf, “The compact vines have multiople banch points and will climb a fence or trellis with ease. Small leaf size makes finding fruit easier, and the parthenocarpic flowers produce fruits under stress and without pollinators.”
Vertina, “Early European-style pickling cucumber,” says Johnny’s Selected Seeds. “High-yielding, very dark green fruits with good flavor.”
Cross Country Hybrid, “The best pickler in our trials,” avers Fedco.
What’s your favorite cucumber?
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
I’ve planted pickling cucumbers for the first time entirely because of your enthusiasm for them last year. Lots of lovely little seedlings in various places all round my garden. We won’t be able to eat them all, but the pickles will make terrific presents
Joanna
Last year I successfully thwarted all the squash-boring beetles in their larval stage by applying an organic pesticide called Organocide. It’s active ingredient is sesame oil. I found mine at Lowes Home Improvement stores. This is the only pesticide I used on my entire garden and with application as instructed on the bottle, I had no squash borers, corn borers, Mexican bean beetles, green tomato horn worms, white flies, or spider mites. I’m totally sold on this stuff!