Discussion

Common Garden Cucumbers

Most people are familiar with the common garden vegetable, the cucumber (Cucumis sativus), except that technically, cucumbers aren't vegetables. Botanically, they are a type of fruit akin to squashes, melons, and pumpkins, though they have their own look.

That doesn't mean that all cucumbers look alike. There are many different kinds of cucumbers.

These are all variations of the basic species, Cucumis sativus that have been cultivated over time. It originated in South and Southeast Asia, but it has since spread around the world. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans who probably introduced it to Europe. It was spread to North America in the 15th century by the Spanish who give it to tribes who were already into agriculture, showing them how to grow European crops, too. 

The cucumber plant is a type of creeping vine that can grow on the ground or attach to objects with its tendrils to climb vertically.

Cucumber plants are warm weather perennials. New growth of typical cucumbers sprouts from a thick taproot when temperatures are high enough to prevent freezing. Cucumber plants produce both male and female flowers.

The male is on the left. The swollen green "stem" on the right below the blossom is the female ovary. When the blossom is fertilized, that becomes the fruit. Most cucumber plants produce seeds, meaning that pollination is required. Bees are the most common commercial pollinators. Most cucumber plants are also self-incompatible, meaning that multiple plants are required to produce fruit.

Most people would be surprised to learn that cucumber fruit is immature when harvested for market. At that stage, they are the most savory and juicy, being comprised of 90% water.

When cucumbers mature on the vine, the skin turns yellow and becomes tough and bitter. The seeds also harden, the way they need to be in order to produce new cucumber plants.

Several varieties of Cucumis sativus are known as Japanese cucumber. One of them, kyūri, is this week's painting subject.

Cucumbers are featured in many dishes. Some, like gherkins, are pickled and eaten whole.

Some are sliced, pickled (sweet or dill), and added to hamburgers and other sandwiches. Some are made into relish. A popular Japanese salad, sunomono, is made from kyūri cucumbers.

Artwork

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849)

This is a relatively early painting of Hokusai's, executed in 1830, many years before he did the prints that made him famous. it is titled Vegetables, though most of the items aren't vegetables. Besides the kyūri, note the eggplant, a preview of next week's painting subject. 

Nakayama Sūgakudō (active circa 1850 – 1860)

Sūgakudō was a student of Hiroshige's. Other than that, little is known about him other than that he was active mostly in the 1850s. He specialized in kachō-ga (pictures of birds and flowers). Sūgakudō is especially remembered for two series of prints, Exact Reproductions of Forty-Eight Birds (1858) and Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons (1861), both noted for their fine technical quality. The print below, Sparrow and Cucumber, was printed in 1858. The color of the cucumber suggests that it is nearing maturity.

Ohara Koson (1877 – 1945)

Koson was a leader in the early 20th century shin-hanga (new prints) movement to restore traditional Japanese techniques, subjects, and values to Japanese print art. It is uncertain when his Flycatcher on Cucumber Bush was produced.