Herb. No. 197 · Cucurbitaceae
Indian subcontinent origin; a summer vine in warm gardens everywhere.
Native · South Asia
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant
Cucumber
Cucumis sativus
Fruit & vegetableHarvestCompanions
A cooling kitchen fruit of the vine — eaten unripe, pickled, or sliced, and a folklore sedative that is mostly water.
Cucumber is a South Asian cucurbit eaten green. Traditional Indian, Mediterranean, and Eastern European kitchens treat it as a cooling food and a pickle. Culinary amounts are the path. The ‘cool as a cucumber’ line is temperature and water, not a sleeping draught. Bitter fruit is cucurbitacin — spit it out, do not finish the plate.
Flavor
Water, a little green melon. A bitter one is a warning, not a variety note.
Parts used
Unripe fruit
Helpful
- Fast in heat
- A pickle crop
Cautions
- Bitter fruit if stressed
- Pickleworm in the South
- Not a diuretic protocol