Cucumbers, from the garden. exploring growing cycles and recipes.

Cucumbers have never really been my favorite food, until now. I don't remember them being served too often when I was a kid either. More like an after thought. When something more was needed on the table for dinner, so, how about a bowl of sliced cucumbers? As a kid, I actually thought they were boring. But...

I am here to tell you that cucumbers are so much more, than an after thought! This is the first time I have grown cucumbers. And man-o-mister did we have a crop! A crop that survived Tropical Storm Beryl. A crop that came from a 25 cent package of seeds from the Dollar Tree of all places...a crop that I have used in new recipes, in our favorite recipes, and even used to grow more cucumbers! Come and take a look...

Before Tropical Storm Beryl...

Next year I want to plant two both regular and pickling cucumbers. But this year I made everything I could from the cucumbers that came off that sad looking mangled vine! And I will continue to remake our favorites from this first year of gardening. As well as get in a few more jars of relish. Generally for canning, I do not let the rebel in me come out to play, I stay with tried and true canning recipes, for safety. But for everything else, beware, because the rebel is loose! Come and take a look at what we have been enjoying...

After Tropical Storm Beryl...

Let's look at the New Recipes Tried:

We have made this Creamy Cucumber Salad with Pickled Onions, about six times! I actually have another dish of cucumbers relaxing in some salt right now to stir up another batch of this salad to enjoy tomorrow!

I made Naturally Fermented Pickles two ways, whole and spears. I thought the spears would not be as crispy, but happily I can say, I was wrong. Spears is the way to go with slightly larger cukes. These were so much fun to make, they reminded me of when my Dad would have a large crock of pickles fermenting in the corner of the kitchen when I was a little girl. (yep a bit of fermenting odor)

I have to admit, Cold Cucumber Soup was a total taste surprise! It is refreshing, delicious and great as a beverage with your meal. I wasn't wowed by the recipe when I decided to make it. But I was looking for a new way to use cucumbers, and this did not disappoint!

Through the years I have come to enjoy hot soups that you can sip from a mug. Never in a million years thinking that I would enjoy a cold soup from a glass, but not only did we enjoy this, it has been made a few more times, and probably will again before the cucumbers give out for the season!

And I made this batch of Sweet Pickle Relish using this recipe! Most sweet pickle relish recipes are basically the same (shelf stable for long term storage), with the usual high ratio of vinegar for safety, and I can't wait to try this on an organic all beef hot dog right off the grill on a soft bun!

AND, I hope to get a recipe of dill relish accomplished as well. If I am successful, I will come back and update...

And lastly, I made Dried Cucumber Chips! These were flavored with vinegar and salt, and while this is not yet a recipe, I did want to include my effort to use as many cucumbers in the different ways, that I did. I can tell you this, dried vegetable chips should be a snack in every home, and now that I have made them, hopefully I know what I need to do to make them blog worthy, recipe coming soon, I hope.

In September I did make Dried Cucumber Chips again, using a thicker slice of cucumber. And I must confess, that sadly our high humidity here in East Texas does not help, in any way! As soon as the food dryer is turned off, the chips begin to absorb moisture and in a matter of moments are chewy. We will not be making dried vegetable chips again....

Let's look at this Updated Family Favorite:

This is the only recipe at Scratch Made Food! calling for cucumbers as the main ingredient. Grandma's Two Day Sweet Pickle Slices, this all time favorite was updated to include directions to use, fresh from the garden cucumbers! Always before, this recipe was made with organic English Cucumbers form the market...

A little philosophy in the kitchen!

My own personal food philosophy is to "cook with what you have." Which I practice, and not just preach...the reality is, often it is much easier to run to the store. But when we challenge ourselves in the kitchen, it shows our families that we care enough to make the very best for them. And it's not bad for the cook either, with an added sense of accomplishment. With homemade we can master creativity along with controlling food waste, ensuring high quality food to serve ourselves and our loved ones.

Mary's Potato Salad, is my mom's recipe for the potato salad of my childhood. It was recently made with our homemade dill pickles, homemade sweet pickles and homemade mayonnaise! As you can imagine, that was a lot of fun to accomplish in the Caravan kitchen!

And New from Old: Plus updates on the mature plants from these seedlings and the additional recipes made!

Some of the cucumbers had over ripened from the first planting. Especially after the trellis had to be removed, they had some really good hiding places, with all the leaves! As they turned bright yellow, looking more like skinny melons, I usually tossed them to the chickens or the compost. One however I cut in half lengthwise and again crosswise, creating 4 pieces.

Some of the seeds in each piece had already begun to harden, so I carefully scooped out the seeds from each piece and planted them, to see if any would grown into cucumber plants. At the same time, I also began saving the mature seeds to dry for future use. To my surprise, two of the four hills are growing! Lucky for all of us, our cucumber eating journey will continue through fall and into the first frost...and now, lets' see what we have been enjoying from the November harvest.

Second Planting UPDATES: 11.13.2024

Here are the new cucumbers from the older and over ripened cucumber seeds!

I did make a couple of quarts of "One Jar at a Time Dill Pickles", using this recipe. There will be more cucumbers, coming off the vines, but the two quarts are enough for us to get an idea if we like this style of pickle and if we will be planting pickling cucumbers next spring. If we do, it would be nice to be able to make a couple dozen jars!

The cucumbers were a bit big, so I elected to cut off the blossom end as needed and then in half. This is an easy recipe and while having the jars hot, the brine boiling, and the flat lid and ring hot, they will seal, on the counter as they cool. However when we make pickles next spring, I will use a 10 minute water bath to ensure they stay sealed.

I also found a Traditional Cucumber Sandwich recipe that I made, and I have to say a Cucumber Sandwich is perfect with a bowl of soup! Since we were not having tea I elected to leave the crusts on and only cut the sandwiches in half, rather than fingers or triangles You can view the recipe we used, here. We will be enjoying these sandwiches again, they are quite tasty and refreshing also.

Our weather has cooled down enough that the cucumbers are growing, but not nearly at the pace they were this summer. However, I can tell you just how wonderful it is to go out to the garden and pick a fresh cucumber for dinner...in November.

Not bad for my first time growing cucumbers!

Would you like to comment?

Joanne August 30, 2024 at 10:14 AM
Ooh.. chips! That's a great idea. I did try making pickles and relish (so far my pickles were a huge hit and we're having the relish tonight), cucumber salad, and cucumber dressing.
Handmade in IsraelAugust 31, 2024 at 2:52 AM
How wonderful that you have so many! I am not a great fan of cucumbers on their own but I do like cucumber salad (I will try your recipe) and I am a great fan of potato salad with pickles. Yum!
JeffSeptember 2, 2024 at 12:17 PM
I've never had much luck growing cucumbers but I do make a couple of pickled things with them. The cucumber chips look interesting. I want to give those a try.
Nancy Andres at Colors 4 HealthSeptember 3, 2024 at 3:22 PM
Until I read this post I didn't realize there's a special kind of salt called pickling salt. I'll have to keep on the lookout for that before I start my pickled cucumber project.
Lisa HowelerSeptember 5, 2024 at 3:25 PM
My neighbor makes pickles like the one you shared with Grandma's Pickle Slice recipe and shares them with us every year. My kids love them and it's all we can do to keep them for even one night. Love all these ideas and I really want to try a couple of these.