This has been a pretty disappointing year for cucumbers in our garden. Last year we had so many we couldn't use them all, but this year, it's slim pickin's .... literally.
All of the cucumbers we planted in the spring were killed from the June rains and, although I immediately started some more from seed in June, they didn't really get off to a good start either. I planted Pickle, English, and Long Green, but the only survivors we had were all English Cucumbers.
No pickles!
Say it isn't so!
Oh well ... the English Cucumbers are making up for it (a little).
Have you ever grown English Cucumbers?
I'm growing English Cucumbers this year for the first time and I will definitely be growing them again... they're awesome!
The thing about English Cucumbers is that the skin is completely edible -- it's much softer, less waxy, and less bitter than standard cucumbers. You don't need to peel English Cucumbers. Ever.
They are longer (and often skinnier) than other standard types of cucumbers and, if you wrap them in plastic to protect their delicate skin, can store longer in the refrigerator than other cucumbers. English Cucumbers also have less seeds than standard cucumbers and the seeds are a lot smaller too.
I've never bought an English Cucumber in the grocery store, but apparently they are more expensive than regular cucumbers (who knew?) and often found in the gourmet produce aisle.
You grow English Cucumbers pretty much the same way as any other type of cucumber. They like hot weather, so you should wait about 3 or 4 weeks after your last frost to plant them outside.
They grow well when trellised and the fruit will probably grow straighter that way too. We have ours on a trellis, but the fruit near the bottom (as pictured above) were touching the ground and didn't grow straight. If you are a stickler for that, you'll want to be sure to get them up off the ground. I don't particularly care about how straight they are (I suppose I would if I were selling them, but I'm not selling any!), so ours are all kinds of wierd, bending shapes.
Oh, and they taste great too. :-)
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