Cucumbers and gherkins

Cucumbers are widely cultivated plants in our vegetable gardens. Most of them are annual plants, that form trailing vines that can grow up to 1-3 m, but there are also some cultivars that form compact bushes. Cucumbers are commonly harvested while fruits are still immature, still green and can be eaten raw, cooked or pickled. They are rough-skinned, spiny and measure 10-15 cm long but modern cultivars are smoother and can grow up to 30 cm long. Gherkins (French cornichon) are ridge cucumbers with short, stumpy fruits that grow only to 7 cm long and are mostly used for pickling.

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