MAINE-LY GARDENING: What’s in the garden? Cukes & zucchini

Cucumber vegetable.

by Jude Hsiang

Gardens small and large are bursting with life now that the unusual spring rains which deplaned planting for many, have been providing more typical watering. Cucumbers and zucchini are appearing at local farmers’ markets and groceries and in our backyard and community garden plots.

These plants are two of many in the cucurbit or gourd family of almost one thousand members including melons, pumpkins, chayote, loofahs, and more found all over the world. This group of plants were among the earliest to be cultivated by humans.

Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere developed the Three Sisters style of planting them with corn and beans. Corn was planted first – sweet corn will do, but as it’s harvested earlier than other types, the resulting garden won’t be traditional – then pole beans that will climb the corn stalks, and pumpkins or squash whose large leaves reduce weeds around the sisters. This enjoyable project is often seen in school gardens.

The cucumbers we know first appeared in northern India about 4,000 years ago. Ancient Middle Eastern, and later Greek records attest to their popularity. The Romans developed many varieties of cucumbers, and recipes for cucumbers. They were even considered to be cures for many ills. But over the centuries the popularity of cucumbers sometimes decreased when some people thought they weren’t healthy. This misinformation surfaced occasionally, but now we know how healthy and tasty these cucurbits are, and cucumbers are a very important worldwide crop.

We can choose from many cultivars of cucumbers in each of the basic types. There are the larger slicing cucumbers so often used in salads, smaller pickling cukes, and the English or “burpless” ones. Cucumbers can also be added to stir fries. I know folks who include a cucumber or two in their summertime lunch boxes because of their refreshing coolness.

Zucchini

The famously prolific zucchinis have become the butt of jokes. We often associate zucchini with Italian cuisine, but like tomatoes and corn, these plants originated in central America along with other squashes. Italians did popularize them and brought them to the United States about a hundred years ago.

Zucchinis are prepared in a multitude of ways and are often used interchangeably with the similar yellow summer squash. They are baked in casseroles, stir fried, and grilled. Because they are so prolific, people have found more ways of using them. There are recipes for zucchini muffins, breads, cakes, and cookies.

I wonder what happened to the harvest of zucchinis from the garden of friends some years back. This city-bred couple who’d moved to a suburban home with a vegetable garden bought a packet of zucchini seeds and planted all of them. They might have been the source of the rumor – or threat – of people who leave their extras on neighbors’ doorsteps in the dead of night. If you sneak some zucchini from your pantry freezer into your next holiday fruit cake, I won’t tell!

© Judith Chute Hsiang
Jude Hsiang is a retired Extension Master Gardener instructor and member of the China Community Garden.