I have been picking Armenians for a week or so, and as it turns out, what I had planted as Trombocino squash may be Armenian cucumbers also. I did not plant any cucumbers except Armenian this year.

I have got to learn to use more of the garden stuff like you do. Everything from the garden has taste so good this year.

Mulberry, can I come eat lunch at your house? It sounds so good! In fact, so good that I went out there and cut off my 1st cucumber. I don't think it is quite ready(it doesn't look big enough for me and still had prickles on it), but it sounds so good. So for lunch I get to have cherry tomatoes and cucumber in oil and vinegar.

Oh I am jealous! We've picked 4 boston pickling cucumbers so far, and the first lemon cuke should be ready to pick tomorrow, but my Armenian cucumbers are dragging their feet!

Do the Armenian cucumbers perform better in the heat than other types? We chose to grow it just because my boyfriend's family are Armenian. I thought I read somewhere it is more heat tolerant than some.

Shallot, I don't know if it is more heat tolerant, but it is slower to produce than others. I've been picking Poona Keeras--short yellow cucs from India that I got from Baker's--for two weeks and the burpless and picklers almost as long. Poona Keera is always earliest for me. I planted all these on the same day, so it's varietal difference.

Mom, I first learned how to make Tomato Jack, a salad composed mostly of tomatos and cucumbers with some onions and green peppers thrown in, from my grandmother over 40 years ago. When the lettuce and radishes are gone, and I've had a couple servings of cole slaw I look forward to that salad. Vinegar and salt is all she put on it. Sometime I add a bit of a good salad oil.

Larry, I know you don't grow all those veggies just to give away. I'm sure a lot of them make it into the house and onto the table.

Dorothy, We've only picked two Armenian cukes and about a billion pickling cukes, so I've been busy making pickles.

I grow the Armenian cukes for us for fresh eating (and for the chickens, who love them) and the only other cukes I grow are pickling cukes (Sumter, County Fair and Eureka this year).

Larry, I think food from the garden always tastes better than food from the store. Always and forever. It is why I plant such a big garden every year. Even home-preserved food tastes better to us than commercially-preserved food. Once you get used to building your meals around the food you grow, you don't want anything else.

Shallot, I do think the Armenian cukes outperform standard cukes in our hottest weather. Partly it is that they seem more disease-resistant and more pest-resistant. The last two summers when it was so hot, my Armenian cukes didn't slow down at all even when the high temperatures were over 110 degrees. I plant tons of them so we have more than we can eat,and then I let some of them get really big (like big zucchini) and cut them in half and feed them to the chickens. They adore them and come running when they see me bringing them Armenian cucumbers. When it is really hot, the chickens get tired and stressed and having the Armenian cucumbers keeps them interested in eating and it helps them stay hydrated. Sometimes I cut big cukes in half and put them out by the compost pile for the deer to eat. The last couple of summers had such brutal heat and such dry conditions that I was doing everything I could to help the chickens and the wildlife endure the dog days of summer, and the Armenian cukes were a key part of my strategy.

This year I have Armenian cukes in all three fenced gardens, where I let them grow on the garden fences, which are 8' tall. The deer and other wildlife can have any Armenian cukes they find growing on their side of the fence. Even the turtles come and eat low-hanging Armenian cukes that are on the outside of the garden fence.

Dawn