My wife Nancy and I are having a cucumber growing competition this summer and, so far, she’s way ahead. She planted three or four vines on the carport in large pots and has put up a couple 7 pound pickle batches so far. Nancy planted smaller, pickling cucumbers, which took off right away.
I, on the other hand, planted Burpless cucumbers and just picked the first ones last week. These are big fellows, about10-inches long, and I slice them up with some red onions, salt, pepper and white vinegar, making a delicious cucumber and onion salad. These cukes are very sweet and crisp. There are now lots of little cukes on my three vines – I planted a few weeks late this year – but I hope to have enough soon that Nancy will be able to can those as well.
Burpless 26 Cucumbers carry the non-bitter gene. Trellised, this monoecious hybrid grows straight and up to 12″ long, but they say the quality is best if picked at 8” to 10″. The smooth, dark green fruits are thin-skinned and tasty with no bitterness whatsover.
I have always enjoyed cucumbers, but I can remember as a boy that if I ate even one cucumber, I’d burp for a week. The Burpless variety, however, is easier to digest, so there is no burping or digestive problems. And I find them far superior in eating quality to the more common slicers.
The problem for many of us backyard gardeners is a lack of pollinators – honeybees. If the blooms are not pollinated they don’t produce fruit. I really like this Burpless cucumber variety and hope I can remember to plant them again next spring, and I hope a few bees will find them.