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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Homemade Living: Cucumber Salad

When we're on our green juice kick, we use up a lot of cucumbers. This year we decided to try our hand at growing our own cucumbers to cut down on the expense of buying them at the grocery store. Whenever I try growing something new, I never get my hopes up too high because I don't want to be disappointed. I honestly didn't expect much from the cucumbers, but I am completely amazed at their quick growth.


We basically just put two posts in the ground and attached some bird netting to act as a support for the climbing vines. We planted the seeds a couple inches apart, and the vines just took off. This past week we have been harvesting cucumbers like crazy! I swear, it seems like from the time you see a tiny cucumber growing to picking time is just under one week. When I came back from my vacation, I couldn't believe how many cucumbers were ready to be plucked off the vines.

Yesterday's harvest.

Due to our recent cucumber overflow, I scoured the internet for cucumber recipes and came across this which I immediately pinned to my food board on my Pinterest page. I really liked the idea of a simple cucumber salad, so I whipped it up quickly earlier this week and was very pleasantly surprised.


The skin on my cucumbers was a little tough, so I peeled them first before slicing for the salad. I found that the cucumbers softened slightly in the dressing, but there was still a nice crisp bite to each slice. A very cooling and refreshing salad perfect for an appetizer or side dish. I will definitely make this one again! You can go here for the recipe.

What is your favorite way to use cucumbers?

~Tammy


This week in the Homemade Living series, I am joined by Daisy and Mary in posting about how we incorporate homemade items into our lives. Next week Meg, Staci, and Amber will be up. If you have some free time, please check out the other posts in this weekly series!

Shared with From The Farm Blog Hop, What I Am Eating  

45 comments:

  1. i rarely buy them, but a fresh cucumber w/ a smidge of salt is awesome!

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  2. Looks yum!
    We didn't plant any cucumbers this year. The neighbor was nice enough to drop some off for us!
    We love pickles :)

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  3. I have a black bean corn salsa that uses two cucumbers in it. Fresh is best and I love to make it this time of year with all the fresh produce.

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  4. Tammy; congrats on your success! Incidentally I was watching a video on YouTube the other day about "male" and "female" flowers. If I'm not mistaken, it was explained with a cucumber plant. This plant is a monoecious plant: it has both male and female flowers in the same plant. The video was about pollination by hand. It was about a gardener showing you how to pollinate the female flower by hand. He did it with a little brush which he dipped inside the male cucumber flower. Then introduced its pollen to the female flower. This way he said he would get more cucumbers, since the female plant will yield the vegetable. He said he had to do that too because he got too many male flowers; and not enough females; which meant fewer cucumbers. Amazing!

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  5. Excuse me Tammy; it's the other way around: it's when there are too many female flowers; and not enough males. He says to hurry up the process, he hand pollinates them to get the maximum cucumbers possible! Watch the video with this link

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  6. I must make this cucumber salad, it looks so good! We are getting overrun too now so it sounds like the perfect sidedish :)

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  7. WHAT great looking cucumbers these are. so I am drinking cucumber water at the moment. also like cucumber sandwiches. Congrats on your wonderful gardening

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  8. I have yet to see cucumbers on my plants this year!! but yours look great and the salad looks yummy!

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  9. I'm getting cucumbers from my neighbor...hers are growing like crazy, too. I'm off to get your recipe! Nothing like a cool, crisp cucumber salad! Thanks!

    XO,
    Jane

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  10. I love the way you're growing your cucumbers, on the bird netting between the two posts. I'm going to try that next year. I want to try the salad too!

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  11. My mouth is watering just looking at that salad. Send me some, willya? ;0)

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  12. Mmmmmmm......I love cucumber salads. :) We will be overflowing with the little guys very soon!!

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  13. yummy......looks delicious!!!! Can't wait to try it!

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  14. Looks yummy Tammy! I'll have to try this out this week! :)

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  15. You are so lucky you don't have the squash bug curse we have here. Looks wonderful!

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  16. Cucumbers with a little sour cream. :)

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  17. Oh this looks so yummy! Cucumbers are so versatile. I love to pickle them or eat them in a cream cheese spread. And yes they do grow fast!

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  18. Woohooo! Your plants are beautiful and the salad looks delish. The squirrels ate all 40 of my plants and I just recently planted 6 transplants, fingers crossed....

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  19. That looks so light & refreshing! What a great summer time lunch :)

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  20. must be fresh and delicious. i love cucumbers

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  21. That looks great well done , cooling cucumber very nice to, I just slice them taking skin off and put them on my salad. :)

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  22. Way to go! This salad looks delicious!

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  23. My favourite is pick wipe dirt on pants and bite nothing like it for me. The salad does look good too:) B

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  24. Mmm - looks amazing!

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  25. Yay for growing cukes! I marinate mine in a simple italian dressing and I could eat an entire bowl every day.

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  26. I finally spotted a couple intsy teensy cucumbers on my plants...maybe soon I will have some to eat. I love the raw!

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  27. My favorite way to have a cucumber is raw!!! I love them. :)

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  28. I love having cukes in our garden. Here I go now off to get some for a salad.

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  29. That's quite a harvest my friend. I am not a cucumber fan BUT I have to admit you make them look appealing and almost makes me even want to try some :)

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  30. Tammy, your plant looks wonderful, very healthy! You have a great harvest there, I wish I could eat cucumbers. Have a great evening and weekend ahead!

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  31. Those are such pretty cucumbers. They do grow *fast*. My favorite Greek salad is tomatoes and cucumbers with dill and salt. Cucumbers and I don't really get along, but I do love the tomatoes in the salad. :-)

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  32. I love your bird netting for supporting the vine. We use old cattle panels, but they are so lengthy for certain things.... You have given me a new idea for where I need shorter lengths!

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  33. Such a beautiful salad Tammy! I had no idea they grew so quickly. Cucumbers are so good for you especially in the summer when we need extra hydration. Lovely salad!

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  34. In the summer we always have some sort of cucumber salad in the fridge. I have made your recipe but without the sesame seeds. Sometimes we just use a vinegar & sugar and with cukes and onions. Sometimes it is with sour cream and onions. Ok. Now I can't wait to go pick those two tiny cucumbers. Oh, and I love the way you've grown them. A real space saver.

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  35. Pickles! Or, a nice crunchy sandwich. That salad looks yummy too. It's thrilling to eat what you've planted. At least for me it is. ;-)

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  36. We slice cucumbers thin and toss them with sliced onions and balsamic vinegar. It's a salad guaranteed to wake up any meal! ;) I'm going to try your salad too! (And I love your cloth napkins-they are so cute!!)

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  37. This salad looks so fresh and delicious Tammy! We love cucumbers and this summer Greek salad is one of our favorites.
    Cheers,
    J+C

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  38. I love my cucumbers raw AND with a little vinegar and oil!

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  39. We cut slice them and put them in some water with lemon and strawberry chunks.It makes a delicious treat without all the junk in soda.

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  40. How yummy this looks. I wish I could grow such beauties. They would be a great salad. Thanks for sharing.

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  41. Looks delicious! Cucumbers with vinegar has always been a favorite snack of mine. Red wine vinegar works best.

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  42. I love cucumbers! I didn't grow any this year though :) Your salad is beautiful!

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