Don't Buy CUCUMBERS Till You See This

what's going on everyone in today's episode we're talking about cucumbers that's right when it comes to cucumbers there's a lot of different variations and types and so this is going to be another one of our complete seed shopping guides we've actually done a lot of them and your response has been amazing I appreciate that and again our goal is to help you to understand not only what you're shopping for but to help you find a variety that's going to work best in your garden for your tastes so we're going to jump into cucumbers because there's quite a few that I need to talk about let's go so when it comes to cucumbers cucumbers come from all over the world there are five main regions where cucumbers come from then from there those five regions can be broken down into the four main groups of cucumber so we'll start with the regions first and then we'll break down the types next so the five regions where cucumbers can come from are Europe Asia India Africa and Mexico or South America then those five regions throughout the world can be broken down into four main groups of cucumbers you have your slicing you have your pickling you have your wild and then you have your region specific cucumbers now let's break those down and kind of explain further you have here your first and your largest group around the world and that is your English cucumbers now English cucumbers are green in color and they're also either smooth skinned or spine skinned and that basically means that either one is used for fresh eating the other one is more intended for slicing or pickling and so you have here you have here these are your English smooth skinned cucumbers these are more of a slicing cucumber you have tender green which is a longer cucumber commonly seen like a greenhouse cucumber then you have here a muncher cucumber it's a smaller English style cucumber and then you have your B Alpha which is kind of in between it's about a 5 to 6 in Long cucumber very smooth skinned then you get into an English style cucumber that is pickling and you have here like your Sumpter cucumber these are going to have spines and they're much smaller in size another pickling cucumber is the Wisconsin SMR again smaller that's kind of the theme with pickling cucumbers is they're only going to be about 3 to 4 in long typically they're going to have a slight Bend to them and they're either done in chips which is where they're sliced or sliced long ways which is called Spears or whole pickles which you know is the whole cucumber but they're generally always going to be pickled and so you have here the Wisconsin ASR and then homemade pickles all the same thing those are European style pickling cucumbers then you have slicing cucumbers and these also come from Europe these are just spacemaster 80s they're more of a bushy style cucumber rather than get on a long Vine they produce more of a compact Bush Ashley they about 5 to 6 in Long cucumber but again still has spines but it's intended to be eaten immature before they actually form those really those thick rigid spines you're going to eat them younger and you're going to you know use them for like sliced cucumbers and ranch or on a salad they're typically going to be less bitter they're going to have a much thinner skin to them and though they do still have those Burrs they're still kind of considered a slicing cucumber what makes them slicing and not pickling is that they have less enzyme in them which actually increases the uh softness once they're pickled the more enzyme you have the soft or the more enzyme you have the longer the shelf life of the pickle less enzyme equals softer so you want cucumbers that have more of that enzyme in them that helps to keep them shelf stable otherwise you're going to end up with really mushy cucumbers final one here really popular straight eight straight eight cucumber again is a slicing variety of cucumber really delicious nice dark green skin but those all come from Europe then you have another part of Europe that produces amazing pickles and that is Germany this is known as the Rish pickle cucumber and it's also known as a corn shonne a corny shonne is a pickle that is in it's a pickling cucumber that's intended to be harvested at no more than about 2 in in length it will get very very bitter if you let it get very uh very large in size and so these ones are intended to be harvested super young and so those are the ones where you typically eat them with a toothpick with like olives and like a a like a veggie TR things like that they are so good but they are intended to be pickled whole and they are known as a corny shown cucumber and they're also a European style cucumber next group of cucumbers is kind of a region specific cucumber and these are Indian cucumbers India has been breeding cucumbers for centuries now you'll notice these are quite a lot different than your English style cucumbers they are colored if you find a cucumber that is white that is yellow or brown in color that is going to be an Indian style cucumber you have here the little potato cucumber doesn't look like a it looks like a little potato it is super cute it has ribs on it that is or like kind like a netting that makes it kind of like almost like a muskmelon it's so fascinating but it also is a cucumber then you have here this is a lemon cucumber it's a really beautiful light yellow skinned cucumber harvested young you definitely want to harvest it young otherwise it's going to get really seedy and a little bit bitter on you and then you have the Puna Kira cucumber again an Indian cucumber it's more of a brown skin and when it gets fully ripe that's where it starts to take on that yellow brown color and they actually use it for juicing it's actually more like a melon than it is a cucumber in India but it's absolutely beautiful super delicious when eaten correctly and I highly recommend it next region specific cucumber is your Armenian yard long cucumbers now Armenia is part of Asia and you're going to have your Chinese cucumbers they could be like your yard long cucumbers your snake cucumbers or in our case like this Armenian yard long now these are eaten fresh you don't typically pickle these you're going to slice them up they get really long you could Harvest them young or let them get a little more mature but they will get a thicker skin and some uh some harder seeds but they're absolutely amazing and they are region specific to again that kind of Central Asia area and you're not going to find these in other parts of the world which makes them Reg specific which is really cool the first wild type of cucumber is known as kiano now kiano is an African horned melon it actually comes from Africa and it is in fact a cucumber though it is known as the horned melon it is a cucumber and how they eat this in Africa is this actually grows has very sharp you know big spines on it not enough to puncture you and hurt your skin but definitely making it not very desirable for an animal to eat and this can tolerate really really really dry climates very hot weather very Aid environments and because of the fact that this grows uh basically in Africa this is used in a lot of different dishes anywhere from drinks they will juice it to the fact that they will um they'll also uh eat the seeds themselves as almost like a pumpkin seed so this is a lot different than your other cucumbers and last but not least is one that is a crowd favorite and this is native to central America America and this is known as the Mexican sour girkin now this is a cucumber it is a wild cucumber that grows on vines really super thin Vines can really overtake a whole trellis which is awesome produces a ton and they look like itty bitty little watermelons which is so cool but these are often eaten fresh as well as pickled and they are absolutely amazing but these are wild variety of cucumber that is native to Central America and Mexico and again that's what makes it a regionally specific wild variety of cucumber and this is one that I know a lot of you have probably not had in your garden but definitely should give a shot they only get about maybe about an inch long maybe no more than a half ounce in weight and they are prolific and taste incredible so that is all of the Cucumber varieties from the five different parts of the world and the four different types of cucumbers that are available to you I hope you learn something new I hope that this video informed you and helped you become more enlightened on the world of cucumbers but I also hope that you found something through this episode that helped kind of guide you to a cucumber that you would like the final thing I would say too is that a lot of times you're not going to know if you like something until you try it so try all of them they are all really cool and they all have their own unique flavors and growth habits and they are awesome in every regard I would highly recommend trying more than just one but if you would let me know in the comments box down below your favorite style of cucumber and let me know if you learned something through this episode the whole point of this episode is to teach you something that you never knew before help that light bulb pop on and really help to kind of shine a light on the amazing world of biodiversity so I hope you guys enjoyed I hope you all learned something new if you did make sure to hit the like button subscribe if you haven't already and we'll catch you all on the next episode as always this is Luke friendy on my Gardner Channel reminding you to grow bigger bye

Channel: MIgardener

Views: 19,698

Keywords: vegetable gardening, organic gardening, garden, gardening, growing food, vegetables, vegetable garden, tomatoes, how to grow, simple, sustainable, urban gardening, raised bed, permaculture

Id: qsIE2hXbFeo

Length: 9min 26sec (566 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 26 2024