Sunday, July 26, 2015

Hip, hip, cheerio

These are English cucumbers. They're very small at the moment, but they will grow longer and larger over the next few days. English cucumbers are thought to be sweeter than our standard American varieties and have much smaller seeds. In my experience, this is the only variety of cucumber that is sold in French markets and supermarkets.

Tiny cucumbers just forming and flowering.

I've wanted to grow these for a while, but I've never found seeds for them in the stores. I could probably get some from the internet if I tried. The seeds for these plants came from an English friend who lives nearby (thanks Carol!). So far we've had three or four cukes and they are delicious, so I'm looking forward to more.

6 comments:

  1. Have you tried what I would call Lebanese cucumbers -- small zucchini size, thin skin and virtually no seeds? They are called something else in the UK and not available commercially, only from clued in home gardeners. In Australia you can buy them in the supermarket or greengrocers and people grow them. They are my preferred cuke, but more or less impossible to get in France I think. I don't have enough water to grow them.

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  2. We have just harvested our first ever cucumber!
    Even in the greenhouse we had no luck with them in the UK but here....a friend gave us a plant, we put it in a small raised bed and left it to fate and a few weeks later....a beautiful cucumber!

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  3. Hi Walt - don't worry I have already put aside seeds for you for next year (cucumber plus others) so don't buy any. Carol

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  4. Our favourite varieties are Marketmore and La Diva - both American but widely available throughout Europe. I'd never heard of English Cucumbers till I read this - La Diva is the sweetest cuke I've ever tasted. P.

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  5. Thanks for this photo, I've never seen an English cucumber on a vine until now. It's very cute.

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  6. susan, no I don't think so. But they sound good!

    jean, congratulations! It's great when things in the garden actually grow!

    carol, how nice! Merci.

    pauline, I've grown marketmore in recent years. Very tasty.

    evelyn, it's just a baby. I'll try to post a photo when it's all grown up.

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