The Paesana di Soleto, Part 1

After growing out the Minunceddha Paesana di Soleto in the greenhouse, I was excited to grow out the variety in the fertile garden. And the plot that I grew in was very fertile. Either because I was planning on growing my Robin Hood Fava beans to seed or because I was too busy to get around to them, I didn’t start the Paesana di Soleto until later in the season. I wasn’t able to put the plants into the ground until late June. Normally, a late start would be a big concern; but somehow leaving the fully-grown fava bean roots in the ground gave the Paesana di Soleto plants an incredible boost that continued throughout their growth. Male flowers began around the 20th of July and female flowers began appearing around the 24th. Fruit was in full production by August 1st and the entire crop was harvested by September 1st.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So – one of the things that I love about this variety is how compact the fruiting on it is. While the Tondo Barese is compact, this variety excels in production above the Tondo Barese – both in male and hermaphrodite female flowers. This may because it has been so intensely dry-cropped. The gentleman who entrusted this variety to me, Gino DiMitri, told me that the one thing he knew about the variety is that it was often grown dry-farmed, entirely without water. Given the extremely short season in which it produced a seed crop, I better understand how well suited this variety is to growing in a dry summer climate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another interesting trait of the Minunceddha Paesana di Soleto (minunceddhra refers to an indigenous muskmelon grown immature as a cucumber) is that the fruit occupies whatever space it is provided. The shiny tender-skinned fruit grows not only round or oval, but tends to take up the space that is provided it. Depending on what stems and trellises are already taking the room around the fruit female flowers, they can develop into cucumber-melons of various shapes and sizes.

The Monika Cucumber

One of the most impressive cucumber varieties that I grew in my parthenocarpic cucumber greenhouse trial was the Monika. Back when I tried them, the vines were productive and completely gynoecious – producing only female flowers that resisted changing color or aborting the female flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to their success in the greenhouse, I figured it might be interesting growing the Monika out for seed in the fertile garden. Similar to growing in the greenhouse, the vines were highly productive – at least with female flowers. While not every female flower set fruit, the majority did – and those that didn’t primarily didn’t because the other fruit set was so heavy. Despite how great the production was, there was no male flower to be seen. Productive seedless cucumbers are a boon to growers, but a significant bane to seed growers. Without pollen from male flowers, all the female fruit will produce either seedless fruit or fruit with seed that is not viable. The male flowers probably did not appear anywhere on the vines until 3-4 weeks after the female flowers. In face, it took until half way through a second harvest until a few male flowers began to develop. While I am not in favor of genetic engineering or messing with nature too much, it would have been really nice to have some kind of hormone that I could spray on the plants to increase the incidence of male flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once male flowers finally began developing, there were plenty of fruit on the vine that needed to be harvested. With all the abundance of Monika cucumbers, I decided to try my hand at pickling. Pickling is definitely not my forté and the mix I used to prepare the pickles made a brine that did not suit myself or my family. We ended up getting rid of the pickles after consuming only a jar or so.

  

 

 

After the pickling failure – failing by using a store-bought pre-made recipe – I continued caring for the remaining Monika cucumbers. They were so productive. Honestly, Monika was definitely a favorite to grow for fruit – but not for seed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone who has grown parthenocarpic cucumber varieties knows that they require a large population and many male flowers in order to ensure proper pollination. Even then, harvests of varieties like English Telegraph can be dismal. My harvest was more than the ten gallons pictured, but it was enough. In the end, I was satisfied to collect harvest enough seed from the fruit to last me into the next season.