2023 Dark Armenian Cucumber

2023 provided me with much joy and excitement, but also much work and disappointment. With gardening, as with life, it seems that joy in one area is somehow interconnected with sorrow in another. In addition to constant pest pressure and disease, I experienced a lot of disappointment with growers this year. Early in 2023, I had asked a group of market growers if any of them was willing to grow specific cucumber varieties for me. Out of this group, I found five or six who were willing to do so. All but one grower backed out before growing out the varieties, either because they planted too late or because they were not ready to seriously try to grow out the variety. Preparing the seed agreements, communicating with growers and the work required to follow-up was so great, that by the end of the season I was feeling quite worn out. For all the work that was invested, I was left with little to no seed of multiple cucumber-melon varieties, including the Dark Armenian or Tortarello Barese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By late July I found out that I would not be receiving any additional seed of the Tortarello Barese or Dark Armenian Cucumber. So, I talked with my wife and placed a one-yard cubic bin in the only place in our yard that had enough sun to grow the Dark Armenian before the end of the season. Doing this, I had to make sure to pull any male flowers from the Speckled Carosello that was growing nearby. This did not require too much work as the vines of the Speckled Carosello were mostly winding down by the time the Dark Armenian began to flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning cucumbers this late in the season is always challenging – but attempting to grow them for seed is even more difficult. Waning daylight, cooler nights and Powdery Mildew all take their toll on the crop. Knowing this, I made sure to fill my planting containers with some professional growing mix. I added a soaker hose and a timer to the one yard cubic bin and then watched the plants grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given that I planted in late July, I was very happy to have been able to harvest anything by early October. While August and September are prime growing months when I gardened in Tucson, they are waning summer months in the Bay Area. Despite high daytime temperatures, Powdery Mildew often comes around in early August. I worked to fight it off with some new techniques, but it was still a bit of work to keep my little plot healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even with all the work it required, I was grateful that I grew out these Dark Armenian cucumbers. I did get a little bit of seed from the harvest and hopefully I will be able to grow out more this coming year. Growing cucumbers and cucumber-melons is not always easy, but I am always grateful for the opportunity to grow and help others to grow out delicious vegetables.