Summertime Cukes

We grow two different varieties of cucumbers in our garden – The Boston Pickling Variety and The Suyo Long Cucumber.  I let them trellis up the side of concrete reinforcing mesh that I have anchored on the cucumber row with T-posts.  Cucumbers really thrive in our climate and their production is noteworthy.  Each day I have to check them as I don’t want them getting too large. 

For the Boston Pickling variety, I like them to be on the small side.  Sometimes I’ll overlook a ripe one covered up by all the foliage and will only see it when it gets big and begins turning yellow.  I will still eat them at that stage, but I find that they have large seeds and are a little on the bitter side.  The one in the photo below is the absolute perfect size.  It reminds me of the dill pickles that I would buy at the baseball park as a kid.  Just looking at them makes my mouth pucker.  They are so good!

Boston Pickling Cucumber

At this time of year when it is so hot outside, cucumbers make a perfect cooling snack.  I like to slice them in bowl and put some olive oil and apple cider vinegar over them along with some kosher salt and coarse ground pepper.  After you put them in the ice box for a while, they are cool, crispy, crunchy and refreshing.  I can eat them until there’s nothing left in the bowl.  And that’s a good thing, because Tricia is not a fan and we have plenty more coming as you can see by all the blooms on the vines shown above and the baby cukes shown below…

In addition to eating them raw, we’ll can our own dill pickles using the fresh dill we grew and dried this year, make fermented pickles (Tricia loves this kind!), and make tzatiki!  I can’t wait for some of that.  Here is a nice collection of Boston Pickling Cucumbers right here:

Here are the Suyo Long Cucumbers that I mentioned earlier.  They originate from northern China. We like to eat them.  They grow to about 18 inches long and sort of look like long, green snakes on the trellis.  I find that the seeds are small - almost nonexistent.   

Suyo Long Cucumbers

Now for the Boston Pickling variety, I saved seeds for the last two years and replanted using saved seed.  I've never saved seeds from the Suyo Long variety, but I'll try this year since I am out of the Suyo Long seeds that I purchased from Baker Creek.  Hopefully, I can be successful.

We'll continue harvesting as many as we can and enjoy eating them before they fizzle out in the summer heat.  Summertime cukes are a cool, refreshing snack.

A Good Investment

The roller coaster ride that has been the stock market this week has made me think about investments. I have heard people say they are fearful to look at the current market value of their 401-Ks, wondering about what tomorrow might bring and sorrowful to see portfolio gains become losses. ExxonMobil stock, described as a "widows & orphans" stock is down 31% for the year.

I found a good investment in the the garden that I wanted to share with you.  Its value isn't affected by Federal Reserve policy, the Chinese economic outlook, or America's GDP forecast.  A few weeks ago when the foliage on the cucumber plants was lush and green, I somehow missed picking a hidden cucumber.  I only saw it after it was as orange as a pumpkin.  Once they turn even a little bit yellow, they are bitter and inedible, but don't despair, this is a perfect cucumber - for saving its seeds, that is.

This variety is an heirloom, open pollinated Boston Pickling Cucumber variety.  It is not a hybrid and therefore, the seeds can be saved and planted next year or in future years.  Here's how we did it.  First, I allowed the cucumber to continue ripening until the plant itself died and it turned a little soft.

Way overripe and soft

I brought it inside and carefully cut it open, breaking it in half so that I wouldn't cut through any of the seeds.

Exposing the seeds of the cucumber

I used a spoon to scoop out the seeds, placing them in a bowl.  There is some pulp in the bowl along with the seeds, but that is nothing to worry about.  You don't need to pick it out.

I added some water to the bowl and stirred it up, mixing it all up nicely.

Added water to the seeds

Now, I just placed the bowl in the window sill and stir it up each day.  By the third day, it will have a mold growing on top of the water and the fermented cucumber concoction will stink like a rotten possum carcass on a blacktop road in mid-July.  

That's not an optimal fragrance for your kitchen window sill, but that is what you want - you want the cucumber seed to ferment. Fermenting the seeds mimics what happens in nature.  The fruit actually rots and the seeds inside ferment and this makes the seed water permeable, softens the seed coat and increases the germination percentage.

A smelly bowl of rotten cucumber seeds/pulp

I pour this stinky soup into a colander and run water over them.  The water breaks up the rotten pulp and cleans the seeds, allowing the smelly stuff to run on through, resulting in clean seeds.

Then I place the seeds on a plate and put it back on the window sill for a few days to completely dry. Every so often I stir the seeds with my fingers, turning them over and un-sticking them from the plate.

Drying the seeds

After day 2 or 3, the seeds are completely dry.

Dry cucumber seeds

I read somewhere that the average cucumber has 150 seeds in it.  Judging from the seeds in my hand, I'd estimate there to be 100 seeds there.  In the same publication, I read that the average heirloom cucumber plant will yield 2-3 pounds of fruit per plant.  One might think that I have a bunch of seeds in the palm of my hand. Actually, looking at it conservatively, I actually have about 200 pounds of cucumbers in my hand!

Seeds as an investment

There are lots of things that can go wrong between now and the harvest of the cucumbers next spring, but I would say that the seeds are a productive investment, with high yields, nice returns, a nice upside potential of unlimited growth.

Yes, the stock market may be subject to the vagaries of investor psychology, but my little ibuprofen bottle of Boston Pickling Cucumber seeds tucked away in my seed saving drawer will be there for me even if though Social Security won't! 

Cucumber seeds - (take 2 as directed)

Saving cucumber seeds, a good investment.  It also pays great dividends!