Cucumbers in Connecticut, August III

Dear Mad Hatters,
 
Often taken for granted, the cucumber is currently abundant in the garden. So I googled it (from Wikipedia.com):
 
“Cucumbers originated in India. Therefore, the English word cucumber is derived from Indian word "kachumbar".  It has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years in Western Asia, and was probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the 9th century, England in the 14th century, and in North America by the mid-16th century.
 
The cucumber is also listed among the foods of ancient Ur and the legend of Gilgamesh describes people eating cucumbers.
 
The fruit is mentioned twice in the Bible (Numbers 11:5 and Isaiah 1:8).
 
According to The Natural History of Pliny, by Pliny the Elder (Book XIX, Chapter 23), the Roman Emperor Tiberius had the cucumber on his table daily during summer and winter. The Romans reportedly used artificial methods (similar to the greenhouse system) of growing to have it available for his table every day of the year.
 
Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his gardens in ninth-century France. They were reportedly introduced into England in the early 1300s, lost, then reintroduced approximately 250 years later. The Spaniards (in the person of Christopher Columbus) brought cucumbers to Haiti in 1494. In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, found “very great cucumbers” grown on the site of what is now Montreal.”
 
Wow, so when you eat a cucumber, you are eating a piece of ancient history!
 
This week at the Woodbury Farmers Market (Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) and the Ridgefield Farmers Market (Fridays 3:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.), Mad Hatter Farm will have:
 
Gourmet Lettuce Mix
Cardinale Head Lettuce
Nevada Head Lettuce
Mizuna Greens Mix
Spicy Greens Mix
Arugula
Marketmore Cucumbers
National Pickling Cucumbers
Napoli Carrots
Cosmic Purple Carrots
Eggplant
Green Beans
Garlic
Onions
 
Hope to see you there.
 
Jeff and Alix
Mad Hatter Farm
135 Music Mountain Road
Falls Village, CT 06031
T: 860-824-7635
www.madhatterfarm.com