Cukes and Gourds by Dirk W Sprenger BMGC April 25, 2017 Dedicated to Mom and Dad Born 1926 in Michigan (note to self -bring a pointer) Version 1.4 16 slides with bibliography

Sketch of Dad’s Cucumber Harvester This machine simply carried men over the vines slow enough to pick them clean. It crawled along at ¼ mile per hour. The tiniest cukes would grow to 3 or 4 inches long by the time we got back to that part of the 30 acre patch. When the ground was too wet, the cucumbers grew too fast and the tractor could not enter fields.

Modified tomato picker – Minneapolis Moline in center. A photo appeared in Midland Newspaper SPRENGER FARM, COLEMAN

Types of Cucumbers Ordinary slicers, or pickling cucumbers Burpless, also known as Hot House or English cucumbers are preferred by many Gherkins, just another word for 1-3 inch pickles Bush cucumbers need 2.5 sq.ft./plant Cucumbers were brought to the Americas by the first explorers. Ref: Our April Seedling (club news)

Types of cucumbers – see Johnny's Japanese Chinese Persian Armenian (36 inch) ---========= Apple – photo from Burpee seeds above Beit alpha, adapted to dry climate and seeds are in the door prize box.

Cucumbers Pests Cucumber beetle Squash vine borer Squash bugs Powdery Mildew Bacterial Wilt

Nutrition Water 95% Vitamin K 16% Now you know all their value: H2O and K. Trucks are covered in ice-spray for shipment. Thus cool as a cucumber is about as cold as you would want to be

What is it? "A Cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing." Samuel Johnson

The take home message is Indiangourdsociety.org has 50 documents on gourds. Some are in your hand out to show you how comprehensive this resource is. The NC Gourd Society meets in Raleigh once per year. There are hard-shell gourds that take months to dry. They are pollinated at night by moths – see hand out

Indiana, wood burning prize

Chess set made from gourds, nuts bolts washers. NC Gourd show

NC Gourd show – a crèche

NC Gourd 2016 Show There are vendors sell all the things you need to decorate them, How-to books, Etc.

Painted stem is the beak NC Gourd show 2016 Painted stem is the beak

To conclude Show –n-tell session follows this talk with the cutting of a dried gourd and sharing seeds with responsible adults. Too much time spent in your gourd patch may put you out of your gourd! They are useful for dippers, bowls, and musical instruments. Indians used gourds for hiding valuables from their enemies, such as gourd seeds.

References http://indianagourdsociety.org/ http://www.ncgourdsociety.org/festival.html NC Meets Nov 4-5 this year. http://www.georgiagourdsociety.com/ THE ARIZONA GOURD SOCIETY, GAMMA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN GOURD SOCIETY, --ITS PURPOSE is the EDUCATION & INSTRUCTION OF THOSE PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE GROWING, CULTURE, USE, HISTORY, CRAFTING & CREATION OF FINE ART FROM GOURDS. Thanks to Kurt Moore for spell checking !