2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Together with the usual cucumbers in the garden, you can grow more exotic varieties of these representatives of the pumpkin family. Of course, it is difficult to recognize a cucumber in an oval shaggy lump or an unusual pear-shaped vegetable. Nevertheless, this is how they are called in their homeland. Let's take a closer look at chayote, anguria and trichozant
Mexican cucumber
Chayote is home to Central America. In these countries, he is revered at about the same level as potatoes are important in our culture. Moreover, unlike potatoes, all parts of the plant are edible and are eaten: tubers, leaves, fruits, shoots, seeds. But the crop must be harvested before the fruits are ripe yet. They are boiled, fried, stewed, pickled, baked. The pulp is removed from the chayote and stuffed with rice, meat, cottage cheese. And the seeds can be roasted - they have a nutty taste.
In our area, chayote is grown through seedlings or by cuttings. For this, the fruits are planted in the ground in a greenhouse in February. They are placed in the holes with their wide part down, slightly tilted. The top of the fruit is not hidden under a layer of soil. In open ground, seedlings are moved in May.
To propagate the Mexican cucumber vegetatively, the young shoot must be cut off at the very root collar. For rooting, they are placed in the sand. It is better to use a plastic bag as a container. Then, at the time of transplantation, it will be possible to simply cut it and disturb the roots less.
Young shoots can be harvested when they reach a length of 10 to 50 cm. This period occurs in July. You can cut it every one and a half to two weeks. They are peeled and fried in vegetable oil, salted to taste. Mushroom lovers should like them. Go well with herbs, lemon, garlic. If you add chopped boiled eggs to this dish, you get a delicious and nutritious salad.
After harvesting, chayote can remain in the open field for the winter. In autumn, plantings are hidden under a layer of straw; you can mulch with humus or other suitable material.
Antillean cucumber
Watermelon cucumber, horned cucumber - all these are the names that anguria is called in different countries. These unusual plants can be pickled - their taste resembles the well-known cucumbers. But more often they are grown for decorative purposes. And there really is something to see here! Anguria has a beautiful leaf shape. On long vines, neat tendril curls curl. And the surface of the fruit is strewn with soft fleshy thorns.
This original vegetable is also grown through seedlings. Presowing seed preparation consists in soaking. Care is no different from the measures that are usually taken on a cucumber garden. In order for the Antillean cucumber to appear in all its glory, it is provided with a support - a trellis. Harvest at the young fruit stage. When the time for seed ripeness comes, they cease to be edible.
Snake cucumber
Trichozant serpentine is a vegetable very popular in Asian countries. Like chayote, in addition to the fruit, this plant also has other edible parts - leaves, stems and tendrils. The cucumber itself reaches incredible sizes - up to 1.5 m in length. As the fruit grows, its shape takes on bizarre curves, which earned it its famous comparison with a snake. To avoid this uncomfortable shape, resourceful gardeners cling to the tip of the sinker.
As it ripens, the peel of the trichozant turns orange and the flesh turns red. This also gave rise to another name - the snake gourd. But they eat unripe fruits while they still retain their green cucumber color. It is advisable to harvest while the fruits are still 10-15 cm long. And snake giants are more suitable for decorative purposes.
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