Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Cucumbers

This summer I grew the Indian cucumber Poona Kheera and it is doing really well for us, producing a lot of crisp cucumbers. Here are some I harvested yesterday, in a basket together with some Italian zucchini (Florence/Lunga di Toscana) and some (tiny) celery. My celery is so very thin! What is the trick to growing fatter celery stalks I wonder...? More water? More fertiliser?


I'm enjoying the cucumbers sliced thinly in sandwiches, shown below with a cup of my current favourite tea variety - 'Grey De Luxe' by Madame Flavour - with lemon myrtle and lavender. Delicious! (Note - the link is just FYI, and my personal opinion only - I'm not affiliated with the Madame Flavour in any way).


I also make raita with the cucumbers to go with an Indian curry. Easy to make - it's just yoghurt (I use Greek), grated cucumber, a little cumin and chilli powder, salt and pepper.


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6 comments:

  1. Yang Saya SukaJanuary 22, 2015 at 1:13 AM

    Hi Bridget,
    It is lovely to see your harvest,,
    I am also growing celery and it is now still babies. A neighbor has grown celery and she got fat stalks. I see her using homemade potting mix, 3:2 for old cow manure and soil. She places her celeries on shady and humid area but never soggy. My garden and house are not as humid as hers, I grow celery in container. I give them homemade fertilizer. Fermented egg solution or molase made of two eggs, one and a half littres of water, 5 spoons of sugar. You can add a little amount of biomicroorganism starter (optional). Mix well and place into a bottle, rest for at least two weeks. Use a part of the fermented egg molase with 15 parts of water to water the celery once in three days. Pretty simple.

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  2. Cabbage Tree FarmJanuary 22, 2015 at 2:45 PM

    Thanks for sharing all that info Yang Saya Suka.
    I think I may have neglected to fertilise it much! Will probably use old cow manure made into a liquid, works well.
    Doesn't affect the taste being small, I chop it up and freeze for adding to stews etc.

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  3. Fiona from Arbordale FarmJanuary 22, 2015 at 11:02 PM

    Celery is a bog plant so needs heaps of water consistently as it grows or you end up with thin or hollow stems.

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  4. Cabbage Tree FarmJanuary 23, 2015 at 9:24 AM

    Thanks Fiona!
    Very helpful to know that - I will put it in a different spot next year and keep it much better watered!

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  5. BLD in MTJanuary 23, 2015 at 11:43 AM

    We grew celery for the first time last year. It was quite narrow in the stalks. I'm taking mental notes from your other readers. Lovely basket of produce you've got there!

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  6. Cabbage Tree FarmJanuary 23, 2015 at 10:38 PM

    Hi Beth
    Hope your next crop of celery is a lot bigger! Perhaps too late to improve mine but I will try heaping on the water for the duration of our summer anyhow.

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