We got the first Gagon Cucumber this week:
It measured 12″ exactly, from tip to tip, and weighed 2 pounds 2 ounces. I don’t think it’s technically quite ripe, but I was tying up the vines to give them more support and it broke off the vine. So. Definitely on the tough side, however it is by far the most aromatic cucumber I have ever cut into. Husband was taking the dogs out as I cut it up, and he walked in the front door and asked what I had been cutting up “because I can smell cucumbers all the way up here!”. I’m thinking it would make awesome infused water for anyone so inclined.
A picture of the tied up cucumber vines:
They’re basically as tall as me, and most of them have stretched back down to the ground again.
Today’s garden harvest:
the first zucchini of the year, a few Mini White Cucumbers, a nice load of tomatoes, and that big yellow thing is a less ripe Gagon cucumber. You can’t see it in the photo, but the stem end has only JUST started to turn the pink-brown and scaly of the ripe ones. This is just as aromatic as the first one, and is just as big, but has much more edible flesh. It’s still a very firm crisp cucumber, but not to the point of being tough. I’m thinking these’ll make some awesome dill pickle spears.
A few hot peppers have been dribbling in, but most of the plants are loaded, so at whatever point they hit I’m going to be buried. The Snow leopard melons are doing well, but it’ll be a bit still before they’re ripe.
I MAY (cross fingers knock on wood) have managed to defeat, or avoid, or something, the bug that was chewing holes in the various sweet/less hot peppers previous years. So far only one paprika pepper and two jalapenos have had to be tossed for holes. I’m not holding my breath till I have ripe peppers in my hands, but so far so good!
I’ve never heard of those cucumbers but they sound delightful
I’m not 100% sure I’ll grow them again. The size means that the plants produce an insane amount of cucumber. But they’re very cool!
Giant cucumbers, once peeled & seeded would probably make good relish too. Yes, when there are lots of big cucumbers, it can be tricky to figure out what to do with them.
Peeled and seeded, cut into small pieces and mixed with some tomatoes cut into small pieces, with a little salt added, (lemon juice optional), makes a good fresh relish that goes well on rice pilaf. Add meat of some kind and dinner is ready.
yup, that’s one of the recommended uses for it, in the seed catalog.
I like it quite a bit now that I figured out that just short of ripe is better. I’m just not sure I like them better than the Mini White’s that I usually grow.
Hollow it out, put some wheels underneath it and make a dry-lake speedliner! Damn that thing is big!
My cucumbers got ate-up by aphids last year.
I’ve had remarkably little problems with aphids. Not sure how I’m so lucky, though we have a huge ladybug population here, so maybe thats why.