lemon cucumber
We haven't even hit our hottest month yet, and already it's time to start thinking about fall crops. Many of them need to be planted three months before average first frost, and in my area, that's today (on the nose!)
But I'm not ready for fall! I'm still dealing with summer crops! There's a pile of pattypan squash on my counter waiting to be cubed and frozen. The beans and lemon cucumbers are coming into their prime. The tomatoes are starting to take on an orange tinge. In short, there's still so much to look forward to from the existing plants that I let myself slide into denial and neglected to come up with a fall-crop plan ahead of schedule.
So I reserved a few hours today to set myself straight, and used part of that time to stop by a local community garden in hopes of gathering inspiration. Happily, it looks like I'm not too far behind the local curve... there was hardly a fall crop to be found among the squash, sunflower, and dahlia-filled plots. Heartened, I came home, dove into the garden, pulled out the yellowing snow peas and scraggly nasturtiums, and planted a row each of radishes, beets, swiss chard, arugula, mache, and lettuce.
Woohoo! Crisis averted! I still have a few seeds to buy and plant (savoy cabbage, leeks, radicchio), but for now, I'm just proud of myself for getting started on time for once. Maybe all that flaxseed bread we've been eating lately is actually doing some good :-o
18 comments:
That sure is a curious vegetable...or is it a fruit??? What is it like to eat? Is it more of a cucumber than a lemon? I've never seen such a thing! I want to know more about it! I think your green thumb has touched me a little because I'm finding I'm a little more interested in gardening lately... but just a little bit. he he
LOL, I'll convert you yet! ;-)
The lemon cucumber tastes like a normal cucumber, but it is a little bit sweeter... I like to slice them up and snack on them straight off the plant. They even look kind of like a lemon when you slice them open.
(Argh, Blogger won't let me post a photo in the reply to show you... I'll have to add the photo next post!)
i was going to ask you about the taste, but then you just posted before i was about to comment! :) i really like cucmber (the japanese, english, and peruvian ones) so i must try the lemon cucumber when i get a chance. :)
your garden sounds like it's progressing quite nicely! :) i'm sure your garden will keep showing us proof of the fruits (and veggies!) of your labor.
"you grow girl!" :)
btw: C is in! :)
Sheesh! I feel like such a sheltered ignoramus! The only cucumbers I have ever tried or know of were the long green kind you find in the supermarket! That's what happens when you are raised on beans and tortillas, I guess! Help guys! I need to broaden my palette! What the heck is a Peruvian cucumber? Do they wear colorful little sweaters?
Peruvian cucumbers sound exotic! I'll have to look for them when the 2007 seed catalogs come out. I'm with R... what do they look like?
well, at Trader Joe's they are called Peruvian cucumbers, but at Marukai they are apparently known as baby cucumbers. they look like the pickling cucumbers in length, but the shape is a lot closer to the japanese or the english (hothouse) cucumbers. the ones i bought were very similar to the japanese and english ones in taste, but with a slightly milder sweetness to them, and i found no bitter aftertaste. hth.
That's Trader Joe's for you!!!! Always have to make things sound ultra-fancy! Too bad there's no little sweaters though...that would have been cute!
That reminds me, I should hit TJs... I've been craving tomato-basil hummus, and teh husband has never tried green tea ice cream. I'll check out the cucumbers while I'm there. I can never resist their high-lycopene tomatoes (conveniently stocked next to the basil and just a few steps away from the fresh mozzarella, of course), even though I can never remember what lycopene is supposed to do for you...
i HEART caprese salad! aaaah! the high lycopene tomatoes, basil, fresh mozarella...(do you get the little ones or the big ones?) and evo and balsamic vinegar...yum! perfect on a hot summer day. :)
btw - have you tried the eggplant spread at TJ's? omg, it's so good.
You guys make me feel really unhealthy!!!!!!
The best I can offer is... "Have you tried the crunchwrap at Taco Bell? I love those processed beans with the preservatives!!!"
Sammy likes them too...she says, "Mommy, I want the taco that's good to go!"
Don't make me have to hang out at Trader Joe's just so I can decipher what you guys are talking about! he he he
sillyduckie: LOL, you know I wouldn't have moved to WA had I not known that there was a TJ's within a 15-mile radius ;-) So far, I've been getting the little tomatoes... I've only seen the larger size once. And actually, I'm headed there tomorrow, so I'll have to check out the eggplant spread while I'm at it!
zonnestraaltje: I love Taco Bell, even though I can't show my face there anymore. I told you my 1-800-TACOBELL story, right? Wherein I erroneously accused a local Taco Bell employee of shorting me a 99-cent bean burrito in response to years and years of repetitive traumatic experience with the notoriously bad Taco Ball on G- Blvd & Western that's gone now? And then found the burrito under my car seat a week later?
I could really go for a taco right now, actually...
(That's Taco BELL, btw... doh!)
omg, i love junk food too. i really like that thing that crunchwrap thin Z is talking about...but i prefer the spicy chicken one! so good.
i gather you already went, but the eggplant spread isn't in the refrigerator case, but in the aisle with the jar pasta sauces and the like. they remind me of those dip jars they sell at the regular markets near the chips.
guess what i had for lunch today?
taco bell spicy chicken crunchwrap supreme. no doubt due to the fact that i read about it here this morning!
lycopene - "a powerful antioxidant abundant in red tomatoes." goes on to say that it may help prevent prostate cancer, heart disease, and other forms of cancer and serious diseases.
I don't know...Taco BALL sounded pretty interesting to me! I imagined lots of people dressed all fancy eating beans and rice! OLE!
Yes, I remember that story! Hilarious! You could always wear a disguise and go back anyway!!!
i'm sure they don't even remember you!
and yes, that TB on Gardena Blvd. and Western was horrible! they were almost always messing up!
SD: Thanks for the info on the lycopene... I remember now, that's what I was supposed to be eating it for, the antioxidants. They're supposed to help improve memory ;-) But I didn't get to Trader Joe's, after all! They're doing construction on the freeway through Everett and I got too busy to deal with the delay :-( Hopefully next weekend... I can't live without TJ's for long!
Z: LOL! I like the idea of the Taco Ball!! :-D :-D :-D
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