Cucumberances

Late August is a peculiar time to start writing about gardening. The summer is coming to an end. The days are getting cooler and the nights are getting longer. The garden is dwindling down but now I finally have a little free time to write.

Today I transplanted Chinese onions and "Red of Florence" onions. I started them in pots and today they graduated to rows in the garden. I planted some white onion sets last week. I should have onions well into November. Every summer I try to save a quart jar or two of chopped, dehydrated green onions. They are so handy for cooking and they keep very well.

Today's bounty included a five gallon bucket of cucumber, a bucket of tomatoes, purple yard long beans, a dozen lemon cucumbers, Chinese cabbage, patty pan and scalloped squash. My lovely and talented Chinese wife, Liu Li Ping is back in Shenzhen, China so Lucky is my garden helper. Sometimes he helps me dig. He's also the official garden greeter when kids and neighbors stop for a visit.

Lucky has recently developed a taste for cucumbers. He thinks they make good toys for fetching and chewing. We have a long row of cucumber vines and we've picked hundreds of cukes this summer. The ones that look like birds or alien sex toys belong to Lucky. He gets the funny looking oversized and odd shaped ones. The good ones, in theory, are supposed to be off limits. Today I noticed two "regular" cukes had disappeared from our little pink wagon. Forbidden fruit I guess.

To handle the garden's excesses we currently have three food dehydrators running in the kitchen. We've also made kimchee and pickles. Last year I dehydrated yellow pear tomatoes, green onions, green beans, summer squash and turnips. Ping makes a very traditional and tasty "side" dish from the squash and turnips. She soaks them in water, drains and browns them in flavored oil. We also like preserved eggplant cooked this way. It goes great with other foods or served alone with with rice or porridge. This summer we started using cucumbers this way.

We raise Chinese cucumbers because we find them more flavorful and versatile. They tend to have softer skin than American varieties. We also raise a few lemon cucumbers that turn yellow when ripe. These tennis ball shaped cukes have a unique taste and texture.

If you are encumbered with excess cucumbers you might want to consider this very simple Chinese treat called Smacked Cucumbers. You can find other recipes online but this is the simplest. Take one large cucumber, lay it on a wood or plastic cutting board and smack it with the flat side of a cleaver. Chop the smacked cucumber into bite size pieces and place it in a colander with a little salt and let it drain for half an hour. (or pat dry with a paper towel) A regular one-handed "slap chop" smash works fine. No need for Hulk smash. Smashing the cucumber breaks open cells in the cuke and allows the flavor from the dressing to penetrate. While the cucumbers are draining, make the dressing. In a bowl mix a quarter cup of chopped garlic (fresh is always better), a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of Chinese black vinegar, a tablespoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of sesame oil. For bonus points add a teaspoon of garlic chili paste. Mix dressing ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Place the cucumber chunks on a large plate and cover with the dressing. Enjoy.

Another great "Chinese" way to serve cucumbers is to slice them and serve with tablespoon of pine nuts (pinon or pignolias) mixed in a cup of ground bean sauce. Again, bonus points of you add a teaspoon of garlic chili paste. This makes a great appetizer or side dish.





Comments

  1. This is NOT a test! Thanks for letting me know about your super blog. I look forward to chatting everything gardening-cooking and dogs with you!

    Warmly,
    Amy Jeanroy

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  2. Hey,
    Sounds like one great garden. I also clicked on a few links to your fav. sites.
    Luck looks like a sweet pup.
    Our pup like to roam the garden, too.
    We have one food drier, we dry beans, tom. zuchinni, peppers and some times strawberries.
    Thanks for the contest.
    CJ

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  3. Hi Dave, and congrats on your new venture!

    I had a question about your smashed cuke recipe - I just wanted to confirm that it's half a cup of diced fresh garlic to one cucumber?

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  4. Hi Deborah-- I corrected the recipe above -- 1/4 cup. (lost in translation..) This is for a large cucumber. Thanks- Dave

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  5. Gardening question for you, Dave:

    When I went to pick our sweet corn this year, I found that we had TONS of tiny green bugs between the layers of leaves on the ears. I didn't even bother to go any further to see if they were in the corn itself, because I was too grossed out. Anyhow, we'd like to keep our garden as organic as possible. Any ideas or suggestions for next year as to how we can prevent these little guys from coming back? I was looking a little bit on the internet, but I couldn't find a common corn pest that sounded like what we had.

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  6. I am going to try the smacked cucumber recipe!

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  7. Hi itsmithissmith! I am possibly the worst person on the planet to ask about growing corn. I've tried it and I'm terrible at growing corn. And I live in NEBRASKA! I tried growing it the last two years and I give up. Corn is cheap and plentiful here so I'll stick to growing things like chinese cucumbers and bokchoy. Bugs are a problem for me, too. I don't use pesticides or chemical and I try to keep things as "green" as possible. Bugs love to hide under corn leaves and in the tassels so I suggest "going further" and checking to see if they've done any real damage to the corn. You may want to try shucking the corn under water if you're worried about bugs. I keep an old washtub in my garden. I use it to wash vegetables before bringing them in the house. It also makes a nice place to keep a little beer on ice...

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  8. I am trying to figure out how to blog and tweeter. am I in the drawing for your giveaway by posting this?

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  9. Great site! My mom does all the gardening and is trying to get me onboard. I think I'd like to grow the 'specialities,' too, that are pricey. She does grow corn! She plants a new row every two weeks so it's always fresh for them to eat!

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  10. I'm glad your dog likes cucumbers . . . I guess someone has to! :)

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  11. Interesting site. My mother does all of our gardening. She plants a lot of Oriental vegetables as she is from Okinawa. I love the summer and all of her fresh Veggies!

    Thank you for the nice give away.

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  12. yum. Nice writing style. Love the dog.
    Sue

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