By Scout Nelson
Cucumbers, a Dakotas favorite, are a versatile veggie perfect for salads, sandwiches, and snacks. But with so many varieties out there, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. This guide, based on trials with hundreds of gardeners in North Dakota, will help you pick the perfect cucumber for your garden.
Beyond Straight Eight: While Straight Eight, a classic from 1935, is reliable, newer varieties offer a world of improvement. Today's cucumbers can be earlier, tastier, and boast crisper flesh, smoother skin, and smaller seeds. Green Light, a remarkable snacking cucumber harvested at just 3 inches, is a testament to this. Its sweetness, crispness, and disease resistance make it a gardener's delight.
Slicing Champions: If you prefer standard slicing cucumbers, Raider, General Lee, and Bristol are top choices. Their earliness, productivity, and reliability make them North Dakota favorites.
Burpless Bliss: Say goodbye to bitter burps with burpless cucumbers! These varieties, like Summer Dance, Tasty Green, and Nokya, offer the sweetest, most flavorful experience. Their thin skin, tiny seeds, and disease resistance make them a joy to grow and harvest. Newcomers Sashimi and Unagi, requiring no bees for pollination, are also worth trying.
Pickling Perfection: While burpless varieties are not ideal for pickling, Homemade Pickles lives up to its name, producing a bounty of perfectly pickled cucumbers. Calypso, Max Pack, and H-19 Little Leaf are other great pickling options.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zbynek-pospisil
Categories: North Dakota, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables