What's in season: Kirby cucumbers

Allison Turcan, farmer and founder of D.I.G. Farm in North Salem. AMY SOWDER PHOTOS

By AMY SOWDER

Before jarred pickles dive into their aromatic vinegar baths, those pickles got down and dirty as Kirby cucumbers.

Other cucumber varieties aren’t so popular pickled: Armenian, English, Japanese, Persian, slicing, gherkin (OK, so these little tikes have somewhat of a pickled fan base), garden and lemon.

Maybe Kirbys are the most common cuke for pickling purposes because they’re short with bumpy, thin skin (so be kind), firm flesh (good for them), and mild flavor (such crowd pleasers). 

Unlike the others, Kirby can hold his vinegar well, without getting sloppy and falling apart.

They come of age at roughly 4 to 6 inches, the best height for harvesting. Before reaching their pickling age, Kirbys dig the heat and playing in the field.

“It’s one of the best signs of the summer season — cucumbers. They’re refreshing and they’re good for you,” says Allison Turcan, farmer and founder of D.I.G. Farm in North Salem. 

Turcan talked from behind her booth at the Mount Kisco Farmer’s Market, where she sells fresh produce every Sunday. D.I.G. Farm also participates at the North Salem Farmers Market on the second Saturday of each month.

DIG (Dealing In Good) is a nonprofit farm with a mission to reconnect the community with the natural good of the farm in Westchester County and beyond. The farm invites the community to learn about regenerative and permaculture techniques through volunteer opportunities, supports other local farmers and hosts classes on topics like farming, cooking, preserving, beekeeping and foraging. There’s even a gardening summer camp for school-aged children in partnership with an outdoor education nonprofit, For the People and Kids.

The expression, “cool as a cucumber,” stems from accuracy. As refreshing as a dip in a pool on a hot summer day, the Kirby cucumber is a harbinger of summer.

“You plant them in spring once the weather gets warm,” Turcan says of the summer vine crop. “By mid and late June, there’s usually a bumper crop of these cucumbers, depending on the weather, of course. They like the heat.”

Hydration is the root of this refreshing crop. And mild-mannered as they are (think British tea cucumber sandwiches), cucumbers also have more nutrients than you might think.

A medium cucumber contains 96 percent water, has 60 percent of your daily vitamin K needs, and more than 10 percent of your vitamin C, potassium and magnesium requirements.

Texture is integral to taste and enjoyment, and Kirby’s got the right mouthfeel.

“They’re crunchy and they have small seeds,” Turcan says.

Firm enough to deliver a snappy crunch, the Kirby cucumber is the one to choose for pickling, partly because that thin skin means the brine can get through and flavor the whole vegetable (technically a fruit because it has seeds, but whatever). A brine is simply vinegar, salt, sugar, and the herbs of your choice. But Kirbys are also great to eat raw and sliced in other recipes, like salads, soups, and drinks.

After buying — or harvesting — your Kirby cucumbers, keep them on your kitchen counter if you plan to eat them in a day or two but put them in the fridge to last up to a week. “Don’t put them in a plastic bag, just right in the crisper,” Turcan says.

Mount Kisco Farmer’s Market runs Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the South Moger Avenue parking lot by the train station.