Unlike the spectacular Staples Singers (with Mavis Staples still rockin’ the 09 Newport Folk Festival at 70), I’ll (not) Take You There — to the Portsmouth (NH) Seacoast Growers Market.
I went to the Market with my main man three days ago. I tried to take in all the sights and smells of the organic and local vegetables, fruits, and meats, the luscious looking/smelling meals and drinks for sale, the smattering of exquisite ceramics and silver jewelry. I found myself simply standing still in the middle of the market’s main path, waiting for the place to sink in. I did not try to take pictures.
I can offer cucumbers from our outing, though, because a farmer at the Market offered them to us as I picked through the bin of Kirbys, looking for the smallest ones. His exact words: “Be not afraid of the heritage types – they are really good, too. These are lemon cucumbers, and these are a heritage type called “White Wonders” – and they are goooooood.”
I’m a seed-o-phobe where the cucumber is concerned, so I asked, “What’s the seed situation?” The organic grower — whose name and farm name I failed to get — said, “There are seeds, but they aren’t as difficult as in other cukes.”
So I bit. And I like them. And took their pictures, once I got back to Our Habitual Beach Garret. The lemon cucumbers are the round yellow balls in the photo above, and the White Wonders are the not lovely things below.
The flavors of these old-fashioned cucumbers are so mild, so free of bitterness, they may have been to anger management training. These venerable vegetables approach “sweet” as a personality characteristic — one I have not located in cucumbers until now. Seeds? Present, but softly edible, inoffensive.
What to do with these prizes, or with other delicious summer cucumbers you may find growing in your garden if you were smart about three months ago, or present at your farmers market, just about for sure? Try Aunt Bea’s Immediate Pickly Cucumbers, the very taste of summer.
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