Turkish Beit Alpha Cucumber

According to one USDA article published in the American Society of Horticultural Science, the Beit Alpha cucumber is a “Mediterranean fresh-market or processed type of cucumber that originated in Israel for use in open-field and protected production… The cultivation of Beit Alpha cucumber is relatively recent, and this market type originated as a selection from a local landrace. Selection was reportedly initiated around 1950 on the Beit Alpha (synonym Beit Alfa or Bet Alfa) Kibbutz (a collective agrarian community) found in northern Israel near the Gilboa ridge… The initial breeding on this market type eventually produced a monoecious uniform variety for open-field production.”

June 14th, 2019.

June 20th

Male flower

Female flower

This particular C. sativus cucumber variety has undergone so much breeding work that there are dozens of varieties on the market. Because of all the breeding that has taken place with these thin-skinned tender cucumbers, there are now some parthenocarpic varieties with female flowers that can set fruit without being pollinated as well as gynoecious varieties that produce almost exclusively female flowers. In addition to this, many of the Beit Alpha cucumber varieties are bred to be disease resistant.

July 6th

While in Turkey, my brother happened upon a seed packet of a Turkish Beit Alpha cucumber, which he sent to me. As I was under the impression that all Beit Alpha cucumbers are parthenocarpic, I was surprised to see that the first several female fruits did not set. It took a while before seeing any female fruit set.

July 12th

July 15th

July 31st

Once the fruit began to set, the owners of the chicken garden were harvesting 2-3 cucumbers per week throughout the rest of the season. They thoroughly enjoyed them and were very glad to be able to have the fresh produce in their yard. For those of you who know me, this may come as a shocker, but given the fact that this variety is unnamed (other than being an Beit Alpha variety from Turkey) I was fine with not saving any seed.

August 17th

September 4th

The final harvest, September 19th, 2019.

All previous experiences I have had with what we often refer to as “Lebanese” or “thin-skinned” cucumbers has not been positive. Though they are often bitter-free, I have not found a variety that agrees with my stomach. Even this specific variety caused some indigestion. The taste of this cucumber left me greatly lacking. Truthfully – it would probably be fine for everyone else. However, having had so many tender, crisp and good-flavored carosello cucumber-melons, it has become increasingly difficult to go back to a cucumber whose flavor is akin to eating raw collards or clover. So – if you are a regular cucumber lover, than the Beit Alpha is the one for you. But, if you have grown any finer cucumber-melons then the best reason you would want to grow this is... for sharing.

The Turkish Tursuluk Kelek in the Chicken Garden

As my first opportunity to try out the Tursuluk Kelek cucumber-melon in the greenhouse didn’t end up as I had hoped, I decided to try this variety out in the chicken garden. I began interplanting this variety out in mid June and did my best to give it as much sunlight as possible until harvest in October. Unfortunately, with the high amount of shade in this garden coupled with an early onset of powdery mildew it became very difficult to keep this variety going any longer than I did.

The Turkish Tursuluk Kelek

June 15th, 2019

September 19th

Seeds of this variety were obtained by my brother while he was visiting Turkey. I was very grateful for him working to get these for me.

September 27th

So, as flavor goes, this cucumber tastes very similar to nor cucumbers – minus the bitterness and indigestion. However, the firm flesh and minimal water content makes this variety much less palatable than many other varieties I have grown.

Having grown out multiple cucumber-melon varieties before, I could tell from a very early stage that this variety is a much more firm crisp variety than I prefer. I could just look at the cucumbers and know. Cucumbers like this often make good picklers, but poor slicers. This is often the case with more dense firm varieties.

October 7th

The closest variety that I have grown to this one was the Carosello Tondo Tarantino Melone. which I made a video and previously blogged about. Interestingly, both have similar female flower growth patterns with an asymmetrical flower, where some of the cucumbers are flat or curved on one side instead of round.

Ready to Harvest seed in early December

Seven things to Consider before Purchasing that Seed Packet

Oh, the enticing allure of seed catalogues and seed packets. One of the things I love most about seed packets are the pictures. The pictures many seed packets have are incredible. They either show perfect specimens of a vegetable on the vine or being displayed on some platter or cutting board. There is very little else that appeals to my eye like a well-grown vegetable. But as much as I love looking at beautiful vegetables, I enjoy reading the seed packet description even more. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to the varieties I grow – I would actually prefer those 1000 words over the picture. Though others may scoff at the description, sometimes the description can tell a gardener much more about the variety of seed in the packet than the picture does.

Why I have problems trusting seed packets.

At times, the pictures on seed packets can be deceiving. Especially if the company selling them neither grew the vegetables or even took any of the pictures of vegetables that they sell seeds for. Perhaps the best advise for seed buyers is “Caveat emptor”, or "Let the buyer beware" in Latin. In this day in which so many things can be purchased online, it helps to have some additional support in knowing what one is dealing with “the real thing” before purchasing seed. Gardeners who are vigilant should be able to avoid being scammed.



The main reason why I bring all of this up is because I deal with this kind of problem all of the time. The seed I deal with always has a name, a description and a picture. More often than not, the name is the most descriptive thing. However, even the name is sometimes wrong and leads me to feel like I am (at least in part) wasting my time growing out so many cucumber varieties in search of something that actually matches its picture and description.

Misleading Seed Packets from a different angle.

Here are some basic things to consider when purchasing seed:

1. What is the seller’s intent? Is the seller more concerned about making quick money or is the seller attempting to sell a high-quality product.

2. What percentage of the varieties that the seller offer have they grown?

3. What kinds of genetic maintenance has the company done to ensure that the variety that is being offered is both what it is advertised as and continues to exhibit high-quality genetics?

4. Who is the seller’s intended customer? Is the seller more focused on large farm operations that require seed that produces identical vegetables which conform to mechanical picking, shipping and shelf life requirements or does the company care more about genetically variable seed that is grown on biodynamic soils and is valued for beauty and flavor over being completely identical. Note: I have come to find that highly biologically active soils naturally produce more consistently stable fruit. Many problems with variable fruit shape and size may be alleviated as the gardener works to maintain high fertility in within the garden.

5. How long has the seed company been around? Does the seed company have a reputation to maintain?

6. How dialed in are the seeds to the climate that is important to the gardener? If the seeds are from a completely different climate, or have been grown for generations in a completely different climate, they may not do well in the opposite kind of climate.

7. Ratings: Though ratings won’t tell a gardener everything, they will tell them a lot. Do growers generally trust the company? If not, why? Did the company respond appropriately to any complaints? Are there themes that would lead one to trust the company? Though there are many places to view ratings of seed companies, Dave’s garden would probably be a good place to start, as they have a whole section devoted to seed company reviews. Not that I would advocate changing anyone’s seed suppliers, but before purchasing seed from even some larger well-known company it may be a good idea to get “the scoop” on their ratings at "The Garden Watchdog" found at the Dave’s garden site.

"Would you be okay with these results?" Feel free to comment below.