How to Plant Cucumbers from Cucumber Scraps

When we first start our gardens we can’t wait for them to sprout. Once they sprout we can’t wait for them to flower. Then once they flower we can’t wait for them to produce fruit (or vegetable). After they fruit we can’t wait for them to produce even more. At last one day, they stop producing, everything looks terrible, and we need to plow it all under. Or do we? I am going to explain to you how to turn those nasty, yellow, oversized cucumbers into a new crop. You will learn how to grow cucumbers from cucumber scraps.

Public Service Announcement

There is a HUGE bit of advice I feel I need to give you. While I don’t know this from personal experience, I understand that it is best not to use hybrid or open-pollinated varieties of cucumbers as they will more than likely not produce. I have always used heirloom varieties whenever possible. It’s best to use NON-GMO for the best results.

What your steps should look like:

One of two things will happen in order for you to start turning your “garbage to garden”. Either you will miss some of those cucumbers in the garden or the season will start to wind down. Anybody who has grown cucumbers knows all too well how easy it is to miss a cucumber in its prime. No matter how we arrive at the yellow and unusable cucumbers, we can turn them into more food.

For starters, you will have to cut the unusable (non-edible) cucumbers lengthwise. Then you will want to scoop out all the flesh and the seeds. Be sure to have a large enough bowl to cover the seeds and flesh over. Once they are in the bowl cover them over with enough water to make the pulp float.

The reason for this is that you will need to ferment the seeds for 1-3 days. At the end of the fermentation stage, you will decant (slowly pour into another container w/o disturbing the sediment) the seeds by adding more water. By adding the water something magical should happen…….there should be pulp and perhaps a few seeds floating on top of the water. But something else will happen. Hopefully, there will be more that sink to the bottom. These are the ones we are hoping for. Why? The bottom dwellers are the ones that we need to replant.

What comes next?

Once you’ve completed the daunting task of separating the bad from the good you have a couple of choices. You can either plant immediately or you can store the seeds for up to 10 years. You read that right, TEN years!!!

Should you decide to wait or plant immediately, after about a month and a half (50-70 days) you should be harvesting and plating up those beautiful cucumbers that you worked so hard for.

Click here for some great garden-fresh cucumber recipes.

And if you just want a good ol’ fashioned Toll House cookie recipe then click here.