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.


6 comments:

Yang Saya Suka said...

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.

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

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.

Fiona from Arbordale Farm said...

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

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

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

BLD in MT said...

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!

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

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.