Saving Seeds, Preserving Taste: Heirloom Seed Savers in Appalachia

Cucumbers

W Cucumbers While not as popular as beans and tomatoes, heirloom cucumbers occupy a special status in the gardens of many people who grow heirloom vegetables. Many of the old-time cucumbers are somewhat whitish and very tender. They can be eaten without Fred BeddingWeld Heritage Fruit and Heirloom Seeds 118 being peeled, and most have a mild Xavor. The following is a story given to me by Fred BeddingWeld, of Zirconia, North Carolina, about his great-grandmother Rosie Queen’s seed saving. u Grandma Rosie Queen’s White Cucumber Seeds Fred Beddingfield These little white pickler-type cucumber seeds were passed down to my great-grandmother Rosie Queen from her aunt not long after the Civil War. She in turn saved the seeds and passed them down to my grandmother Staton, then to my mother, and Wnally to me. Like Grandma Queen, I was raised in the Green River community of Henderson County in western North Carolina. During World War II, everyone had large gardens, and many of the locals had small truck farms. Basically these cucumber seeds were planted in “hills” or small mounds, usually Wve or six seeds to the “hill” and the vines allowed to run over the ground. Later my father grew commercial green cucumbers in Welds and trellised them up like pole beans. I decided to plant my white cucumbers the same way, which makes them easier to harvest and cleaner since they aren’t on the ground. The vines really like to climb. My seeds primarily came from my mother, who would allow a few of the cucumbers to go to “seed.” They would get rather large in diameter and turn orange in color. Later they would be cut open, cleaned of pulp, and the seeds air and sun dried on a screen wire. Then they were stored in a cool dry place or freezer Cucumbers 119 for the winter. My mother sent me some seeds to Athens, Greece, while I was stationed there by the Air Force during the period 1967– 1969. The cucumbers grew well in the clay soil in Greece and loved to climb my landlord’s fence. The Greeks loved them but laughed at the small size. The Greek cucumbers (Anguri) were 15–18 inches long and big and round. The Wrst time I bought some at the local street market I picked the very slim ones, and they tasted terrible. My landlord said to get the big fat ones, and they were delicious but couldn’t compare with Grandma’s. Later I was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and lived in base housing just across US A1A from the ocean. The backyard was mostly sand, but the cucumbers grew well in that soil also while just running on the ground. After retirement I moved back to North Carolina and have had a garden here. Mother passed away in 1996, so it has been left up to me to save the seeds. One year I could not Wnd my seeds. Fortunately my daughter in Florida had some I had given her, so now I make certain I save lots of seeds. I have also given some to my other daughter in Atlanta. They grew well, but some tame rabbits ate them. My son in California raised some, but his two yellow labs ate them. My father-in-law once grew some of these cucumbers in his small garden and was able to make a “run” of pickles in a Wve-gallon churn. I prefer to eat them, skin and all, just oV the vine in the garden. I have a small garden, so one short row will provide all the cucumbers we need, plus we always give some to friends. In the winter I put all of the leaves that fall around the house in the garden , usually six to ten inches deep. In the spring I mulch the leaves in the soil with a rototiller. This provides nitrogen and other elements to the soil naturally. When planting the seeds I put a little 10-10-10 fertilizer and later add a small amount of ammonium Heritage Fruit and Heirloom Seeds 120 nitrate/sulfate (34-0-0) to give the plants a growth boost. When I saw the article in the Berea magazine about Bill Best and his heirloom beans I sent him an e-mail about the cucumbers. Bill was a classmate at Berea...