V eggie of the Week: THE CUCUMBER

A true identity crisis surrounds this weeks veggie. Scientifically it's a fruit, it belongs in the Gourd family of plants, and it's closest plant cousin is the Muskmelon. But the best place for the cucumber is sliced fresh on your dinner salad or as a pickled garnish on your hamburger or hotdog.

It may have many identities, but one thing is certain, the cucumber is a versatile, hardy, and welcome addition to any garden.

Either serving as a versatile food, or as a medicinal aid, the cucumber is unmatched, check out what WHFoods.com has to say about "cool cucumbers".

And for first-hand planting, here's how it's done by Jarad at Stonesoup Farms...

Vegie of the week: GREEN BEANS

Can a bean by any other name, still be green? Well according to Wikipedia..."Green beans (American English), French beans or runner beans (British English) are the unripe fruit of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern United States, but can also go by snap beans."

Whatever you want to call 'em, green beans is the one vegetable that you can usually count on your kids having no problem cleaning their plate of, and generally makes a great side dish to any main course at the dinner table.

Two common types of Green Beans are grown; Bush or Pole Beans, in most gardens, and can yield more than one crop in a growing season.

I found a good little video on Youtube that shows you how to plant a good crop...



And, for a good online reference here's a link to the Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension Dept. of Horticultural Sciences.