Notaclue
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Cucumber novice

Sorry for the silly question. Firstly I am a very novice gardener and have only become interested in it to teach my child where food comes from
We were given a very small cucumber plant a few months ago but I'm not convinced it is a cucumber. Can anyone help?
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applestar
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It is a cucumber. There are different types. This one looks like the usual American slicer.
It is a teeny bit over-grown imho.

Cucumbers are picked immature. I like to pick them when they are even width from top to bottom. Initially, the bottom is narrower, and I watch and wait until the bottom end catches up with the top end.

Sometimes, the bottom end never fully fills out due to watering or other stress, or very often -- aging plant.

You don't want the bottom end to start to yellow because that usually means the seed shells are starting to harden. As the fruit matures the seed shells harden and the flesh becomes watery and kind of spongy. You can till eat them -- just scrape out the seeds into a boat, peel the skins, and if not so good eaten fresh, cut into blocks and cook in soup or pasta sauce -- don't overcook or they will melt away and disappear, though they still add an extra flavor to the dish.

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jal_ut
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Yes, that is a cucumber. You can wash it then slice it up and put the slices in a bowl and add a couple tablespoons of vinegar and some salt and water. When serving just bring them outa the brine with a fork and enjoy.

Galasso
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Yep it's a cucumber but they grow fast so you need to watch them and pick them a bit earlier before they get this big.

Taiji
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jal_ut wrote:Yes, that is a cucumber. You can wash it then slice it up and put the slices in a bowl and add a couple tablespoons of vinegar and some salt and water. When serving just bring them outa the brine with a fork and enjoy.
Yes, growing up we did cucumbers that way at home. Marinate them in vinegar water and chill them in the frig. Delicious!

jlcnuke
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applestar wrote:It is a cucumber. There are different types. This one looks like the usual American slicer.
It is a teeny bit over-grown imho.

Cucumbers are picked immature. I like to pick them when they are even width from top to bottom. Initially, the bottom is narrower, and I watch and wait until the bottom end catches up with the top end.

Sometimes, the bottom end never fully fills out due to watering or other stress, or very often -- aging plant.

You don't want the bottom end to start to yellow because that usually means the seed shells are starting to harden. As the fruit matures the seed shells harden and the flesh becomes watery and kind of spongy. You can till eat them -- just scrape out the seeds into a boat, peel the skins, and if not so good eaten fresh, cut into blocks and cook in soup or pasta sauce -- don't overcook or they will melt away and disappear, though they still add an extra flavor to the dish.
So, if my pickling cucumber looks like this, it's probably not good to use for making pickles?

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gumbo2176
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No, that cucumber is way past its Use By date. It will be bitter and the seeds will be tough to boot.

jlcnuke
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gumbo2176 wrote:No, that cucumber is way past its Use By date. It will be bitter and the seeds will be tough to boot.
Thanks, thought that might be the case but good to hear from someone who isn't just growing them for the first time this year :)

gumbo2176
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Here's one way I ate them as a kid=====and still do. I'll slice the cucumber in fairly thin slices and cut up some nice ripe tomatoes and put them in the same bowl. Then I'll take a couple cloves of garlic and make a paste with them by adding a sprinkle of salt over the finely chopped cloves and dragging that along my cutting board with the edge of a chef's knife. Then I'll cut up some fresh sweet basil and mix it with the garlic paste, add olive oil and a bit of vinegar and toss this in the tomato/cucumber mix. I'll refrigerate this until cold and eat it up like a kid in a candy store. If left overnight, the cucumbers will wilt, but that really doesn't matter much to me as it takes on lots of flavor the longer it sits.

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applestar
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Once they are as yellow as that, it's probably not good to eat (though sometimes they have wonderful melon-like aroma).

The seeds will be mature enough that you can wash and dry and save them to grow more. Hybrid variety seeds will not grow true and there may have been bee-cross if you had more than one variety growing. But that's not necessarily indicate inedible.

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applestar
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I'm going to try this recipe @gumbo -- my cucumbers have jut started to come in. 8)

...oh, what kind of vinegar?

pepperhead212
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That sounds delicious, gumbo! I will definitely be trying that.

gumbo2176
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applestar wrote:I'm going to try this recipe @gumbo -- my cucumbers have jut started to come in. 8)

...oh, what kind of vinegar?
I prefer either a red wine vinegar or just the basic white vinegar. I have done this with Balsamic vinegar, but it just didn't taste right to me since there is a bit of sweetness on the back end of it.

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applestar
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Thank you! Can't wait to try :()



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