Cool as a cucumber

Cucumbers are inherently refreshing.

The mild green fruit that's treated like a vegetable is 96 percent water. Straight from the crisper, cukes will not only cool you off but help hydrate you.

With temperatures rising around the world⁠-2024 was the warmest year on record since 1850, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration⁠-cucumbers could be just the ingredient to help handle the increasingly hot weather.

"The amount of water in the cucumber makes it an exceptionally healthy crop to eat. They're low in calories and high in volume," says Carol Miles, Washington State University Extension vegetable specialist at the WSU Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center, where she and her team grow cucumbers in the border rows of experimental plots.

A serving, or a half cup, has close to a day's requirement of vitamin K, important for bones, and just eight calories. Not only do cucumbers support weight loss, they're high in soluble fiber, aiding in digestion. They can also help reduce inflammation and lower blood sugar.

Miles grows her own at home on a trellis, which keeps cucumbers off the ground and away from insects⁠-and can double or triple yields. Other benefits of a trellis: "It conserves space. And it keeps the fruit straight. When the fruit hangs, it grows straight. When it grows on the ground, it usually curves."

The good news is cucumbers are easy to grow. In fact, people have been cultivating cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) for thousands of years. They're among the world's oldest domesticated plants. Native to the northern plains of India, cucumbers have been cultivated and consumed for more than 3,000 years in western Asia and were likely introduced to Europe by the Romans. Christopher Columbus is credited with bringing cucumbers to the New World in 1494.

Cucumbers love full sun and warm weather, growing best between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. "Anything above that becomes problematic," says Miles, who has worked at WSU since 1994 as a professor in the Department of Horticulture and as an Extension vegetable specialist. In fact, "in eastern Washington, it actually gets too hot in summer to grow cucumbers unless there is shade. But you can grow them commercially in the early part of the year."

Cucumbers need fertile, well-drained soil with a high level of organic matter. Vines reach 3 to 5 feet in length, so give them plenty of space⁠-or height, if employing a trellis. Plant seeds when the outdoor soil temperature is 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, usually in late May. Place four or five seeds together an inch deep in mounds of soil spaced 4 or 5 feet apart, if not using a trellis. Harvest is 50 to 70 days after planting, from July through October. Be sure to pick a few times a week to keep the fruit from getting too big. And give the plants plenty of water throughout the growing season.

"On the east side (of the state), water later in the day so moisture is conserved. In western Washington, I recommend the opposite. Water plants in the early part of the day so plants are not wet going into the night, which can promote disease," Miles says.

Historically, people cooked cucumbers. In his Naturalis Historia from the first century AD, Pliny the Elder wrote: "Truly, cucumber, peeled and cooked with oil, vinegar and honey is most enjoyable." He noted that cucumbers were "a wonderful favorite" of the second Roman emperor, Tiberius, who ruled from AD 14 until 37 and was apparently "never without" them "for he had raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun; while, in winter, they were withdrawn, and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-stone."

De Re Coquinaria (The Art of Cooking), attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius in the first century AD, includes recipes for stewed cucumbers in broth or wine sauce as well as stewed with boiled brains along with cumin, a little honey, some celery seed, stock, and oil. Instructions for the latter call for binding "the gravy with eggs" before sprinkling with pepper and serving. Another recipe doesn't include cooking instructions, so it's likely an early cucumber salad with a dressing of pepper, pennyroyal, honey or condensed must, broth, and vinegar. Plus, "once in a while one adds silphium," an unidentified plant used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, and medicine.

More recently, in the early to mid 1700s, recipes called for stuffing cucumbers with forcemeat⁠-a mixture of ground meat, seasoning, and other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs⁠-and stewing them. An 1845 recipe from Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families describes a creamy cucumber soup, also served hot.

These days, cucumbers are mostly used for fresh eating or pickling. Pickling cucumbers are smaller than slicing cucumbers, usually 3 to 6 inches long. They can also be enjoyed fresh, but peeling them first is highly recommended. They tend to have a spiny skin.

"You can pickle a slicing cucumber, and you can eat a pickling cucumber fresh. But they are developed for those two different purposes," Miles says. "A pickling cucumber is going to plump out and get wide but not long within one week. They have been bred to absorb brine. But they are fine to eat. You'll want to skin them. Slicing cucumbers are bred to be eaten fresh so their skin is more palatable. It's not so bitter and is often thinner."

Place rounds of slicing cucumbers on toast or a bagel with cream cheese. Blend cukes into a smoothie or juice them along with other favorite fruits and vegetables for a healthful beverage. Dice them into small cubes and include them in creamy yogurt- or sour-cream-based sauces or dips. Add cucumbers to wraps or crudité platters. Serve crustless cucumber sandwiches for high tea or summertime lunch. Consider chilled cucumber soup or a simple salad.

Miles's favorite way to prepare cucumbers is with thinly sliced red onions, salt and pepper, and olive oil and vinegar. "That's my go-to cucumber summer salad."

Tips for growing cucumbers and recipes

Tips for growing cucumbers (WSU Extension, PDF)

Top cucumber varieties to grow at home (Gardener's Path)

English and Persian cucumbers (The Kitchn)

Pests and more issues for cucumbers (Pacific Northwest Extension Group)

Recipes

Cucumber soup (ckbk.com)

Cold Polish cucumber soup (The Polonist)

Forced cucumbers (Colonial Williamsburg)

Asian Cucumber Salad (Feasting At Home)

Mediterranean Salad (The Mediterranean Dish)

Cucumber Dill Salad (Bites of Beri)

Tzatziki Sauce (Bon Appetit)

A collection of cucumber recipes from The Pioneer Woman

Cucumber recipes from Real Simple

How to cook with cucumbers (Self.com)

Cucumber recipes from A Taste of Home

Cucumber recipes from Bon Appetit