Cucumbers

Cucumbers have been elusive to me in my garden.  They start growing and producing only to succumb to the wilt  carried by the cucumber beetle.  Yes, I could spray something to keep them at bay and have lots of cucumbers but that is not my style.  I want to do everything I can as organically as possible because that is the main benefit to growing your own.  Anything I buy really is a mystery up until the point of purchase.  The other part is that I am a bit lazy when it comes to spraying.  I worked in a greenhouse and on a well manicured landscape for a large insurance company so spraying recreationally is not a hobby I want to undertake.  This year my cukes are hanging out behind my tomato plants on the south side of the house.  Plenty of moisture from the soaker hose when the rain has not been sufficient has helped.  I have picked two cukes so far in a nice small size with minimal seeds as an added benefit.  Years ago when I worked at a garden center we had these plastic forms to grow vegetables into shapes.  I may pull that out of my gardening box this year at least once to make heart shaped slices to amaze and delight my friends.
Cucumbers also are a memory vegetable for me.  My mother would take us kids down to the Rugg's house to pick pickling cucumbers in the heat of summer.  We were always barefoot and in shorts as kids so creeping through the cucumber vines was always produced fine scratches on our legs that itched and our feet became black from sinking into the rich garden soil.  The pickling cucumbers are not the smooth skinned cousins in the family.  The 3 and 4" fruits are very spiny and leave reminders behind in your palms.  To get them off the vine you have to twist and pull so they come loose.  We always picked a galvanized wash tub full to have enough pickles for the next year.
With two of the larger kids on each side of the tub, the cukes were carried to the car.  Mom paid Marie for her efforts and we went home to can the pickles that day.  Mom filled the tub with cold water at the outside faucet and we sat in the shade of the house scrubbing the spines and dirt off so she could can them.  By the time we were done, the spines had come out of our palms and the cold water had cooled us down.  We would stick our feet in the tub to finish the job.
The house was a hot and steamy place with the smell of vinegar heavy in the air.  Sometimes she made crock pickles, where they did some time fermenting before canning.  Other times she would stuff the cucumbers and dill with a garlic clove right into the jar. She added the vinegar which had been spiked with pickling spices, put on canning lids and bands and set them into the pressure canner.  The rattle and hiss is a sound you never forget.  The vinegar and spices are the smell you never forget.   I still love having fresh dill in the garden if only to run it through my hands and enjoy the tangy smell.  The dill would come from Jenny Hansen's garden which was just two houses away.  Jenny must have planted seeds all summer long as she always seemed to have a ready supply to share.
The dill would also find its way into a sliced cucumber salad that still tastes as good today as it did as a child.  Mom would thinly slice cucumbers and onions into a bowl.  Salt, pepper and vinegar were added along with a  bit of sugar.  After sitting awhile, the liquid was drained off and sour cream was added.  We ate this cold, cucumber salad over hot mashed potatoes.  The hot, soft potatoes and the cold crunch of cucumbers and spices is delicious!
My youngest has found the cucumber this season, and just in time for our home grown beauties.  She is adding more to her list of things she LIKES to eat when it comes to variety.  It is funny to see the things she adds as a teenager since she has been eating things like sauerkraut and green peppers since she was small.  She adds blander items as she gets older, not the other way around.
Take a stroll around the farm market and pay homage to the cucumber.  Now that you know those boxes of small ones are not just younger versions of the large cucumber you will understand the pricing difference.  Try a refrigerator pickle recipe and see how good a pickle can really be when you make it fresh.