Which cucumbers?

[Mrs. Hughes]

Hello all...I need some advice. I like to can (something I began learning to do about 4 years ago) and I especially love canned pickles. Last year I couldn't remember what variety of cucumbers I'd been planting in previous years and ended up getting the wrong kind of cucumber. The skin was very thin and so the pickles turned out mushy. So...what I'm in search of is a good variety of pickling cucumber. I make bread and butter pickles, dill spears, and dill slices. This year I'd also like to try a sweet baby gherkin type recipe.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Molly53]

Mrs. Hughes wrote:
Hello all...I need some advice. I like to can (something I began learning to do about 4 years ago) and I especially love canned pickles. Last year I couldn't remember what variety of cucumbers I'd been planting in previous years and ended up getting the wrong kind of cucumber. The skin was very thin and so the pickles turned out mushy. So...what I'm in search of is a good variety of pickling cucumber. I make bread and butter pickles, dill spears, and dill slices. This year I'd also like to try a sweet baby gherkin type recipe.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

• County Fair - Sweet, full flavor, mild, easy to digest, no bitterness Fruit to 3 inches long almost seedless if kept away from other cucumbers. Pickler for chips, spears, whole pickling. Predominately female flowers. Vigorous, strong vines for home gardens. Hybrid.

• National Pickling - Solid, crispy. Dark-green, blocky fruit to 5 to 7 inches long, 2½ inches wide; black spines. For sweet and dill pickles. Heavy yield over long season. Early harvest from vigorous vines. Hybrid.

• Pickle Bush - Tasty, crisp fruit. Deep-green fruit with pale green stripes to 4½ inches long, 1½ inches across; blocky, classic pickle look. Very productive, compact vines to 2 feet long; suitable for containers.

• Regal - Resistant to most diseases. Long, slim shape for pickle chips, spears, whole pickles; good brining quality. Early producing high yields over long season. Gyonecious, mostly female flowers. Excellent for home gardens in all regions. Hybrid.

• Saladin - Crisp, tender skinned. For pickling or fresh eating; pick at any stage. Curved, bright-green fruit to about 5 inches long by 1¾ inches wide; small seeds. Good choice for greenhouse growing. European origin. Hybrid.

The best cukes to pickle are very warty and very green. If they've started to change color, they've already started the seed ripening process.

Also, make sure and nip 1/16" off the blossom end of the cuke. It contains an enzyme that can lead to soft pickles.

[Mrs. Hughes]

Thank you!