Cucumbers Galore

Yesterday I took a walk out to our tiny vegetable garden along the side of the house. I noticed, as usual, the cucumbers seem to have taken over the tiny patch. Sure, they left enough room for a few decent tomato plants, and a little bit of room for some peas, beans, green peppers, and lettuce, but the majority is cucumbers. That isn't a terrible thing, since I really do like cucumbers and I eat quite a bit of it. But there is only so much cucumber one can eat. Cucumber is best eaten fresh and raw from the garden, just after a quick rinse. Peeling isn't necessary and slicing is even optional. But once you eat some raw cucumber with your meal, or even as a sack, and add some to your salad and some to your sandwich, what more can you do with it? Cucumber isn't really a vegetable you can add to many cooked dishes, it doesn't work well in baked goods like zucchini does, and its high water content means it doesn't withstand freezing very well. The only other option is to pickle and preserve it I guess. Since we don't have the proper equipment for that, and aren't really big fans of pickles, and preserves, and that kind of thing, we will share our cucumbers with those who do. This is what I harvested yesterday. Some of these cucumbers were left to grow way too big. We will keep the small ones for eating as is, because they will have much better a flavor than the big ones. I also found a few tomatoes while I was at it, a few regular and a few cherry, which are so fun to eat just to rinse and pop in your mouth. Happy harvesting to all!