Slicing, Seedless, Pickling Cucumbers

Plant a cucumber seed in spring or summer, and in around 50 - 90 days you can begin harvesting off the vine.

- By Wendy Moulton

TIP: Pick cucumbers before they start yellowing. Once they begin to yellow it’s too late – catch them when they are green.

These refreshing, cool, crisp vegetables (which botanically are classified as a berry) are used sliced fresh in salads, peeled and sliced for cucumber sandwiches, or grated with other ingredients to temper the spiciness of curries in a raita. They also make the perfect companion for roasted lamb in tzatziki. Also, there are those that swear by cucumber slices to reduce puffy eyes and rehydrate the skin, although that would probably be due to its 95% water content more than any miracle ingredient.

The different types

We all know that the best way to preserve cucumbers is to pickle them and make gherkins or, if you want to be fancy, cornichons. (Cornichons are French pickles, and are the mini version of gherkins made by harvesting cucumbers when they are immature, at about 5cm in length. They are extra tart at this stage and are often pickled with tarragon, making a crunchy and acidic morsel that pairs so well with cheese and cured meats.)