Cucumber Heaven

My cucumbers are monsters, something out of the Little Shop of Horrors. They are trying to take over my entire garden. The vines are running up the driveway, down the driveway, up the trellis, out, over, under...and bearing many little baby cucumbers.This morning I only picked two, but in another day or two there will be another rush, just in time for me to attempt pickles.

Speaking of the 1960 movie, I have an early childhood memory to go with that. I was about 5-6 or so. It was a Sunday or Saturday afternoon as the entire family was home; my father in his chair, my brother in the living room, and my mother back and forth from the kitchen. I had done some terrible thing (I was always in trouble doing terrible things until my little brother John came along, and he took over that job) and I was made to stand in the corner of the kitchen for an inordinate amount of time. Modern day books say a minute for every year of age, but for my parents, it was like 10. It was so long that I think it was the length of the movie.

It was a black and white TV and Little Shop of Horrors was on. I was pissed because I wanted to see the movie. FEED ME I would hear the plant yell, FEED ME FEED ME. I tried to sneak a peek now and then, but since my parents had eyes in the back of their heads, they knew what I was doing and all that happened was that MORE time got added onto my punishment.

I had a fascination for horror movies. The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Earth vs. The Giant Spider, Bela Lugosi movies. So this was torture that I was excluded from the Sunday afternoon family time. In fact, it was downright child abuse in my little girl's mind.

I never did see the movie, nor the remake either. But every time I go into my garden, and some plant is out of control, I hear a little voice in the back of my head screaming FEED ME and I see a little girl standing in the corner, trying to peep at the TV.

So far I have eaten the cucumbers raw, make cucumber water,  Lithuanian cucumber salad that my mom used to make, Japanese cucumber salad, cucumber sandwiches, and cold cucumber soup, recipe by Emeril, which was WONDERFUL, though I am sure I smell like garlic and hot peppers today.
The last frontier will be to make dill pickles, but I will need a glut of cukes for that, but with the look of things, it will be happening soon.

Oh, and don't forget, the classic 21 Reasons Cucumbers are Better than Men. Sorry guys, but I warned you that this was coming.

Patti O Vine