Veggie IDs: Cucumbers

Cucumbers are in a family known as cucurbits which includes melons, squash, pumpkins and gourds. They are classified as either slicers or picklers. We grow four true cucumbers – Silver Slicer, Lemon, Adams, and Socrates – and two technical melons that tastes a lot like a cucumber – the Armenian & Persian.

From left to right

Armenian & Persian cucumber: (first two on the left)don’t miss these! They are truly sleeper favorites. Most folks won’t try them, but once you do, you will never go back. They have a true cucumber flavor, but smell a bit like a honeydew, and feel a bit like a slightly unripe cantaloupe and honeydew as you eat them. We recommend you slice it in half to remove the seeds and then enjoy this as you would any other cucumber.

Socrates: This is a classic slicing cucumber with that classic cucumber flavor. Peel or don’t, it’s up to you.

Silver Slicer: lemon flavored, thicker skin, not as watery. We enjoy these sliced in salads or eating spears dipped in bean hummus.

Adams: a happy medium between a pickling cucumber and a slicing cucumber, these small powerhouses have a bit of a spininess to them, but, after wiping the spines off, they are great munched on as snacks, sliced into salads, or doing whatever you want to do with cucumbers, especially picking! They are slightly citrusy which really gives them a refreshing flavor. We definitely don’t peel these. Once they are washed, they have such a tender skin that peeling them would be a waste of time.

Lemon Cucumber: these orbs of juicy, seedy flesh are quite refreshing with their citrusy-ness.

To store: Place cucumbers in a sealed plastic bag or Tupperware in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator for up to a week.

To prep: Slicing cucumbers are often peeled. Pickling cucumbers are not. If the seeds are bulky, slice the cucumber lengthwise and scoop them out. Scoring the skin of a cucumber with a fork or zester gives it attractive stripes. Slice, dice or cut into chunks according to recipe.