Little Sprouts Learning

When the garden decides to put out cucumbers, it REALLY decides to put them out. You can end up with a ton of excess cucumbers and that can get overwhelming. Are you wondering what to do with excess cucumbers? In a few weeks, there won’t be any available and you’ll be missing them like crazy. Check out some things you can do to get the most of them while they’re here.

16 Ways to Use Excess Cucumbers from the Garden

I LOVE cucumbers and I love making pickles with my kids. It’s a fun memory we have had for years. I can remember back when my 27-year-old friend was young and here in the summers and we did a garden together. It was much smaller than what we are growing now, but it was fun and she still remembers it.

(That might be because of my irrational fear of snakes. One day we were out tending our little patch and she saw one and screamed and I pushed her down to get leverage to get in the house faster. Not one of my proudest moments, but she’s over it. I apologized for it again the other day and she said she thought it was funny. I digress)

Back to the excess cucumbers. When our little plant started putting on cucumbers, it went like crazy. Once the heat hits them, they explode with growth. We did a fun science experiment that year using water bottles. We took a tiny cucumber on the vine and placed it in an empty water bottle. Then we let it grow until it filled the bottle.

We then picked the cucumber off the vine and put the lid on the bottle. Then we asked all the daycare parents if they could figure out how we got that big cucumber in that bottle. It was really fun for the kids. I put pickling liquid in the bottle and stored it in the fridge for years so we could keep asking people. No one ever figured it out before we told them.

Do you want to get started gardening, but don’t know where to begin? Click here. 

Using excess cucumbers

Every year we have excess cucumbers and we make a bunch of pickles at least once during the season. Click here to see how we make refrigerator pickles with our excess cucumbers.

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What to do with excess cucumbers in the garden

I love to just slice excess cucumbers and eat them. I like them plain, or with a sprinkle of dill. The kids eat bowls and bowls of fresh sliced cucumbers. They are a favorite here. I also love to make cucumber sandwiches with a toasted piece of bread, a schmear of cream cheese, and then slices of cucumber with a sprinkle of dill. Yum yum. It tastes amazing!

A favorite dish around here is cucumber salad. I used to make it for myself, but the kids were always begging for it. I was like, kids are not going to eat cucumbers in a bowl of vinegar, but I let them try it. They loved it. Over and over again we have made tons of cucumber salad with our excess cucumbers and the kids LOVE it!

Are you interested in recipes for what you’re growing in the garden? Check out this produce calendar to help you cook with what you have in season.

What to do with cucumbers

I make a super refreshing spa water with cucumbers and slices of citrus fruits. Click here to check it out. 

Another favorite salad I make often is a chopped balsamic salad. It’s super refreshing. It’s similar to the plain one, but has more vegetable variety and some cheese. Everything is better with fresh mozzarella. Click here to see the recipe.

 

Sharing excess cucumbers

After we eat all we can of our excess cucumbers, we love to share too. I love to set out piles of cucumbers for the kids to take home. I have several kids that will take a sack full and bite them before they even leave the house with their moms. They have the whole sack eaten before they get home. Cucumbers have many health benefits so I love hearing that.

We also like to share with our friends and family. We take excess cucumbers to the local homeless shelter and to families that can use them.

Preserving cucumbers from the garden

Here is a list of things you can do with cucumbers to save them without pickling or canning them. They sound DELISH! Check it out by clicking here.

 

Did you know you can freeze cucumbers? Check out how here.

 

Half Sour Fermented Pickles

 

Creamed Cucumbers (can also be blended and used as a delicious dressing!)

 

Redbud and Cucumber Sandwiches

 

Cucumber and Onion Salad

 

Cucumber Lime Smoothie

 

Watermelon, Orange and Cucumber Aqua Fresca

 

Basil Cucumber Fruit Salad

 

Shrimp Salad Bites

 

Cucumber Mint Jam

 

Cucumber Cilantro Salad

 

Cucumber Mousse

 

Excess cucumbers come in handy

There are so many ways you can enjoy a yummy, bright crisp cucumber that having a ton of excess cucumbers is quite a blessing. There are one of my very favorites from the garden.

More information on how to build raised beds, build a trellis for your plants, and basic gardening information you need is available here in these beginning gardening videos. Click here for more information. You can even download a tour of what types of beds we have in our preschool gardens for free. 

 

Check out these other food preservation articles for your garden produce.

Preserving Peaches from the garden

Preserving Green Beans from the garden

Preserving Hot Peppers from the garden

Preserving Tomatoes from the garden

Storing garden produce to make it last as long as possible

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