The Great Cucumber Challenge

(Page 5 of 6)

June/July 2007
By Barbara Pleasant 
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Save seeds from one open-pollinated cucumber, and score 3 easy points.

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The real thrill of this game happens as cucumber vines flourish in your garden, cucumber cuisine reaches new heights in your kitchen, and you end the season knowing twice as much about cucumbers as you did when the adventure began.

Choosing Cukes

TypeCharacteristicsSample Varieties
  

American

50-65 days to maturity

Uniform oblong shape with dark green skin. Plants tend to produce all at once. Best fresh. Peeling makes some varieties easier to digest.

'Everbearing'

'Marketmore 76'

'Straight Eight'

'Sweet Success'

Pickling

52-65 days to maturity

Small oblong fruits with thin skins, often bumpy. Plants produce all at once, and must be picked daily. Good fresh or pickled.

'Boston Pickling'

'Calypso'

'Cross Country'

'National Pickling'

Middle Eastern

52-65 days to maturity

Straight, slender fruits with thin skins produced all at once. Often sold as gourmet cucumbers. Excellent in salads, no peeling needed.

'Beit Alpha MR'

'Diva'

'Green Finger'

'Socrates'

Armenian or Oriental

55-70 days to maturity

Long, often curved fruits on rambling vines that require trellising. Plants often produce for three weeks or more. Best fresh. Peeling optional.

'Jade'

'Kyoto Long'

'Suyo Long'

'Yard Long Armenian'

Heirloom

58-79 days to maturity

Variable shapes and skin colors, sometimes with subtle melonlike flavors. Often produce for three weeks or more. Peeling optional.

'Boothby's Blonde'

'Ellen's Family White'

'Lemon'

'Miniature White'

Cucumber Seed Sources

Bountiful Gardens
Willits, Calif.
(707) 459-6410

High Mowing Organic Seeds
Walcott, Va.
(802) 472-6174

Johnny's Selected Seeds
Winslow, Maine
(800) 854-2580

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