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Cucumber plants are tendril bearing vines with triangular prickly hairy leaves and yellow flowers which are either male or female. The female flowers are recognized by the swollen ovary at the base which will become the edible fruit. The flesh of cucumbers is firm and crisp, and really not very sweet, but delicious nevertheless. There are many dozens of varieties of cucumbers available to the grower (Cornucopia II lists 92). Short blocky types are favored for pickling, and longer cylindrical types are used for fresh slicing. Extremely long and slender Oriental or "burpless" cucumbers and spherical lemon cukes are also popular. Breeders have developed cucumber types that are parthenocarpic, or seedless, which develop without pollination (as long as they are isolated from normal cucumbers to prevent insects from bringing pollen to the flowers). The big commercial growers often grow gynoecious cucumbers, varieties that produce only female flowers. By having just a few male flowers in the field, commercial growers can expect very high yields more or less all at once. Home gardeners generally prefer the monoecious varieties which have male and female flowers on the same plant and tend to produce over a longer period. Small pickling cucumbers, typically immature specimens, are sometimes called gherkins. Armenian or snake cucumbers are a different species, Cucumis melo. Their fruits are ribbed and often quite long and coiled.
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Cucumbers should be picked while still young and just before they start turning yellow. Older cukes develop large, tough seeds. Mature fruits should not be allowed to remain on the vine if continuous production is desired. It is possible to harvest up to 30 pounds of cukes from a single plant. Homegrown cukes sometimes get pickleworms - little greenish caterpillars about three quarters inch long (the larvae of a small yellowish brown moth). The pickleworms burrow into the cucumbers and eat tunnels from within. Just submerge the cukes in water for five minutes and the worms come right out. (We then drop them in the aquarium where the fish make short work of the little rascals.) When you cut up the cukes for eating you can cut around the tunnels where the pickleworms were. Like home grown tomatoes and new potatoes, great tasting cucumbers cannot be obtained from the super market. Commercial cucumbers were developed to ripen all at once (the better to harvest); to be of uniform size and shape (the better to market); and to have thick skins (the better to keep); flavor was not a concern. And that greasy wax they're coated with ... If you want to taste just how good a cuke can be, you have to grow your own, or find a local gardener who does. Cucumbers are usually eaten raw in salads, or sliced with onions, vinegar and salt, or they are pickled. But they can be cooked, too. Try quick sautéed cukes with dill and butter. Or a cream of cucumber soup. Or use them in stir fry. Good home grown cukes do not need to be peeled.
Features The family Cucurbitaceae has given us many useful crops. See Floridata's profile on the melons and squashes, and the one on luffa gourds. Steve Christman 5/18/03; updated 6/8/03, 10/8/03
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