Discarded vegetables sell for 28 yuan per jin, nutrient-rich but many people have never eaten them
Once I attended a friend's wedding, and at the banquet I tasted a very unique vegetable, small green fruits topped with yellow flowers, very mini, crunchy and tender and very delicious, I could eat several in one go. Later, after looking it up, I learned that it is called small cucumber flower.
Upon closer inspection, this small cucumber flower has no prickles all over, is only about 4 cm, the size of a little finger, and has no bitterness at all when eaten, with a crisp, sweet and fresh fragrance. It turns out this cucumber is called the Dutch mini cucumber, a different variety from the cucumbers we usually eat.
And this small cucumber flower is the flower-bearing baby cucumber picked before the Dutch mini cucumber has grown up, so to speak, a discarded or culled baby cucumber. Because when growing cucumbers, to ensure the other cucumbers on the vine can grow smoothly, some excess baby cucumbers are generally removed to avoid losing too many nutrients.
Although culled, the small cucumber flower is very nutrient-rich, with high levels of amino acids, calcium, iron, phosphorus and more, and in particular its vitamin content is higher than that of watermelon and tomato. But because the quantity is very small, the price is quite expensive, around the New Year and festivals it can sell for about 28 yuan per jin, and it is hard to come by, so probably not many people have eaten it.
The fully grown Dutch mini cucumber is about 15 cm, rather short and small, sweet, crisp and tender, and nutrient-rich; it can be eaten raw as a fruit or cooked. It can be grown in greenhouses all four seasons, with very high yield and relatively good economic returns. We can also grow it in pots at home, and it can grow completely without pollination, which saves a lot of trouble.
The mini cucumber likes a warm environment, with an optimum growing temperature of 15-30°C. When growing in pots, it is recommended to choose a somewhat larger flower pot and apply sufficient base fertilizer. During the growing period, water and fertilizer must be sufficient, with light fertilizer applied frequently, and more organic fertilizer rich in potassium can be applied. In addition, it is not tolerant of strong light, so shade is needed in summer.