Cucumber - Cool As!

Cucumis sativus

Bodybuilders and beauty queens swear by them! Skin care companies and supermodels can't get enough of them. They're an excellent skin cleanser and a "tired eye" reliever. And refined people eat cucumber sandwiches at tea parties, or so I've been told. Cucumbers are cool, both in the garden and the kitchen!

Planting Schedule

Warm Areas: July to March
Temperate Areas: September to January
Cool to Cold Areas: October to December

Position, Position, Position!

Our good mate cucumber can be a bit fussy about position. In cool zones, these guys love nothing more than a spot in full sun. However, in areas with stinking hot summers, try a little tenderness and shade your cucumbers. You can actually grow cucumbers in about 30% - 50 % shade in places where the air is warm... how good is that!

The other thing to bear in mind with cucumbers is that cucumbers are essentially vines, and they need to climb. Pick a position that provides them with the right amount of sun and also gives them a bit of support. Fences and trellis do fine as do wire supports. But my favourite is using sweet corn as a "living stake" for cucumbers. It makes the most of the space in your Yummy Yard and is a dead set sustainable solution for staking. This works best where there is good airflow, and the two are excellent companions.

Talking Dirty

Good soil preparation is vitally important. Cucumbers need a friable (soil talk for loose), well drained soil, chock full of organic matter, especially compost. I generally plant my cucumbers in a mound about 40cm across with two cucumbers to each mound. This acts to improve drainage, and means that if my compost supplies are running low I can pile it up for my precious cucumbers. The most important cucumber tip here is mulch. A beaut straw mulch will help keep the roots cool, stop the soil drying out and, should fruit come into contact with the ground, a layer of good clean straw mulch should help prevent fungal diseases (more on that later).

Feed Me!

My Dad and cucumbers are very similar in that they are both "heavy feeders" (sorry Dad!). This means that they will pretty much take in whatever food is available, but this is where you need to be a bit careful. I am a huge fan of manure teas, but never use them on my cucumbers. It tends to promote really healthy, leafy growth, but no fruit, which totally defeats the purpose. I generally give my cucumber a feed at planting time, with either watered down worm wee or a seaweed based liquid feed, and then feed again when I see the first little fruits appear (they look like tiny gherkin). A good whack of compost to kick this lot along is the best starting point.

What about the Water?

If there was ever a more convincing argument for drip-irrigation and rainwater tanks, cucumber would be the spokesperson! Cucumbers are thirsty, "Burke and Wills in the desert" thirsty! They just cannot be successfully grown with a shonky watering regime. Installing drip irrigation in your vegie patch should always be considered, but I reckon it's a must have with cucumbers. Drippers on top of the soil, under a nice 5cm - 7cm layer of mulch, and directed around the root area of your plants is perfect. Its puts the water exactly where it's needed... the roots! You know it makes sense!

In fact, cucumbers don't respond at all well to any other method of watering, as they are susceptible to fungal diseases if their foliage is wet. You will also know if you're watering regime has been sub-standard when you eat your cucumbers, as they will taste bitter and fairly revolting. If you must hand water cucumbers, make sure you do it first thing in the morning.

Are We There Yet?

The variety of cucumber you've chosen to whack in your Yummy Yard will determine when it's ready to pick. Despite the talk at the pub, it's actually all about size and what you want to do with it. If you want gherkins, pick the long, green cucumbers when they are about 5cm - 10cm in length. Alternatively, these can be left on the plant and picked when they are 15cm - 20cm for tasty "salad" cucumbers. Same deal for Lebanese cucumbers. Now, if you were feeling a bit "crazy" and planted the round "apple" shaped cucumbers, I'd be picking these when they are about tennis ball size. Cucumbers generally take about 8 - 10 weeks to ripen, stretching out to 12 - 14 weeks for apple cucumbers. My tip here is to monitor your vines regularly; it's better to harvest when cucumbers are under-ripe, rather than over-ripe.

Oh, and for the love of the Garden Gods, don't just yank your cucumbers off the vine. Cut them off with a nice sharp, clean pair of scissors or secateurs, making sure you leave a wee bit of stem attached to the fruit. Pulling them off can snap the vine in half (bad), seriously jeopardise the rest of your crop (very bad), and it makes me cry (unbelievably bad). So don't do it!

Pests and the Rest

Cucumbers, like loads of the vines in our Yummy Yards, are susceptible to fungal infections (aren't we all). Prevention is much better than a cure here, so clean straw mulch, drip irrigation, good air movement, trellis or support and no water just hanging around on the leaves should scare of any fungal spores. Other issues faced by the cucumber is lack of bee activity to pollinate the flowers. Encourage bees by planting a diverse selection of Yummy Yards plants, and some non-edible "pretties", and laying off unnecessary chemicals in the garden. Insecticides often wipe out the good guys as well as the bad, so think once, twice or thrice before using them.

Hot Tip

My hot tip for cucumbers is pruning (and not the kind my Nanna does when she is "stubborn"). "Pinching out" is a term us professional gardeners like to use, but it really means removing wee bits of the plants to encourage better growth and fruiting. I like to remove (pinch out) growing tips when they have formed about five to seven leaves, and also "pinch out" the "laterals" (side shoots) that have produced a number of leaves (about eight to ten) but no girl flowers. You'll know if it's a girl flower by the miniature cucumber where the petals start. Sounds complicated, but I reckon if I can manage it, anyone can do it!

Eat me!

COUS COUS Salad

500ml boiling water or stock
500g cous cous
1 can chickpeas
185g currants
100g pine nuts
125g butter or 125 ml oil of your choice
1 ½ tbsp Ground cumin
3 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Salt
½ Cup Sundried Tomatoes
a few home grown shallots/spring onions
2 home grown Cucumbers

Method

Cover cous cous with boiling water or stock and set aside to absorb.
Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice into half or quarter moon segments. Toss with salt and set over a colander in the sink.
Combine all other ingredients apart from cous cous and cucumber in a large mixing bowl.
Use a fork to mix half of the butter or oil through the cous cous. Add to large mixing bowl.
Rinse cucumbers and pat dry. Add to large mixing bowl with the remaining butter or oil.

This salad will feed a hungry army and can be made up in no time at all. It is also interchangeable with whatever is in the pantry or cupboard.

Try these variations:

Add olives instead of, or as well as, sundried tomatoes

Sauté homegrown leeks and add these to the cous cous. Add water to the pan after sautéing leeks and use this as the stock for your cous cous.

Serve cous cous warm and stuffed into roasted pumpkin, squash or capsicum halves

Add any and all of your homegrown herbs and vegies in any combination you like!

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