The Puzzling Chuzzle Cucumber

Have you ever heard of a Chuzzle Cucumber? Well, I hadn't until a little while ago when I was asked by Leigh from Fair Dinkum Seeds if I would like some seeds to grow and then write about them on my blog later on. 

I was able to select some seeds from Leigh's website so I had a look around and tried to find some vegetables and fruit that we hadn't grown before and choose a variety of seeds including the Chuzzle Cucumber which looked and sounded fascinating.

I planted a few seeds before leaving for Mt.Isa last December and while I was away we had about 5 inches of rain and the plants were going crazy when I got home.

I couldn't wait to see what the cucumbers looked like and before long little ones started appearing and they looked very fuzzy indeed. They were fairly soft to the touch but the vine is a tad prickly.

A couple of weeks ago, with the CEO incapacitated and I wanted to plant some winter plants and needed the room, I pulled out the plants which were threatening to take over the whole street :-)

There were big ones and small ones but don't dare eat the middle to large ones as they are very, very bitter. I asked Leigh how he used the little cucumbers and this is his advice:

I make up a brine and pick all the tiny fruit, most still having a flower attached at 3cm or less. I just put a big handful of salt in a small 2lt bucket, fill the bucket with cucs, then top up with a little warm water put the lid on and gently agitate to dissolve the salt. Leave the lid on for a couple days, fermentation begins, lid swells, drain and dump brine, then refill with homemade wine vinegar, couple cloves and a bayleaf, jar it in the fridge.I brine them for a couple days, then into the vinegar for a week or more before eating.

Eat them tiny and soft, medium size is medicinal in small doses(and tastes it), large and yellow is foul and inedible, only good for a "dare" or as a bug/ant bunny or roo repellant on tree trunks..
Hack the vine back to a manageable clump, treat it rough, it loves it and will fruit longer. (might want to wear gloves as the vine in prickly)

So, if you want to grow something a little different then give this unusual cucumber a try.

If you are interested in growing a few seeds then read all about 'Chuzzle' Cucumber Cucumis Dipsaceus here on Fair Dinkum Seeds. 

 

As far as the sugar free eating way of life is concerned, belts on my pants are the order of the day so as to avoid an embarrassing situation :-) Losing weight seems to be an unintentional result of this type of eating but as long as my cholesterol is lower in six months or so then I will be happy. 

I am only fairly new to Pinterest but if anyone is interested in some sugar-free recipes I have been pinning some I have found on one of my Pinterest boards. One of my friends makes sugar-free Hot Cross Buns and she is going to cook some up and put the recipe on her blog soon so I will link to that when she has made them. She is a great cook and assures me they taste great. There is also a recipe on David Gillespie's site. 

Update: Here is the link to the Hot Cross Buns on The Herb Barrow.  I can't wait to try them.

Main meals haven't really changed and basically it is cutting out the sugar in coffee and the snacking between meals on sweet snacks that I have had to work on. Oh yes, and all the tomato sauce I used to have on meals! I now make my own which is a lot more tasty anyway. As I have mentioned before the recommended daily intake of sugar is 5 to 9 teaspoons so technically it is not a sugar free way of life but I think many of us normally eat much more of that in our daily diet unknowingly. 

Now to tackle some of those crafty UFOs that are waiting patiently for my attention. 

"Chuzzle" Cucumber Cucumis Dipsaceus

25+seeds of this very hard to find, ancient medicinal cucumber.
Spiky looking, but yet soft and flexible like "Velcro".
Looks like a yellow "Chuzzle" when fully ripe!
Great fun for the kiddies to grow and has a mild flavour when small and green. Good pickled or eaten fresh sliced thinly in sandwiches.
Very, bitter when big and bright yellow! Absolutely the most bitter thing in the world when they go bright yellow.
The difference between green and yellow in flavour is amazing, and there is no way you would ever eat a yellow one even if you were starving. That's the other reason they are a great plant to grow!
Great for stopping chewing or damage to your stuff by the critters!
100% safe for people, dogs, cats, horses, etc etc etc......... But, if you have a horse that won't stop chewing its dug, or a dog chewing its house or even if you can't stop chewing your nails.
Whatever it is, just apply some of the juice and that will stop it immediately! Just cut a bright yellow one in half and rub the cut surface on the affected area.
We use them for stopping the rabbits and bettongs ring-barking our seedling fruit trees in the dry times. What we do is, squeeze a heap just like oranges, strain the juice, and 2 cups of water for every cup of juice, and just paint it on with a paintbrush. You can freeze the left overs till next time you need it which is handy. Puts an immediate stop to all chewing by mammals, and even some insects!
Doesn't stain(not that I have noticed but always "patch test" it first), it's not poisonous (actually, its quite healthy, and has a long history of medicinal use) and even more importantly its CHEAP!
We get about 300 off a large vine,(every fruit in that picture was of ONE plant about 1.2m square, and that's not counting us picking and eating heaps of the nice small ones to munch on as they grew.
Used in Madagascar and Africa as a food and a Medicinal plant for thousands of years.
The ripe yellow fruit can be crushed and used as a "fish poison". It removes and/or binds up the O2 in the water and the fish float due to the Saponins and it totally works. Various "saponins" are also used commercially to treat many different diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, blood cancers and various forms of lung cancers.
And even more importantly, it looks really really cool!
- See more at: http://fairdinkumseeds.com/products-page/ethnobotanical-or-medicinal-plants/chuzzle-cucumber-cucumis-dipsaceus-seeds/#sthash.NPkt3tKN.dpuf

"Chuzzle" Cucumber Cucumis Dipsaceus

25+seeds of this very hard to find, ancient medicinal cucumber.
Spiky looking, but yet soft and flexible like "Velcro".
Looks like a yellow "Chuzzle" when fully ripe!
Great fun for the kiddies to grow and has a mild flavour when small and green. Good pickled or eaten fresh sliced thinly in sandwiches.
Very, bitter when big and bright yellow! Absolutely the most bitter thing in the world when they go bright yellow.
The difference between green and yellow in flavour is amazing, and there is no way you would ever eat a yellow one even if you were starving. That's the other reason they are a great plant to grow!
Great for stopping chewing or damage to your stuff by the critters!
100% safe for people, dogs, cats, horses, etc etc etc......... But, if you have a horse that won't stop chewing its dug, or a dog chewing its house or even if you can't stop chewing your nails.
Whatever it is, just apply some of the juice and that will stop it immediately! Just cut a bright yellow one in half and rub the cut surface on the affected area.
We use them for stopping the rabbits and bettongs ring-barking our seedling fruit trees in the dry times. What we do is, squeeze a heap just like oranges, strain the juice, and 2 cups of water for every cup of juice, and just paint it on with a paintbrush. You can freeze the left overs till next time you need it which is handy. Puts an immediate stop to all chewing by mammals, and even some insects!
Doesn't stain(not that I have noticed but always "patch test" it first), it's not poisonous (actually, its quite healthy, and has a long history of medicinal use) and even more importantly its CHEAP!
We get about 300 off a large vine,(every fruit in that picture was of ONE plant about 1.2m square, and that's not counting us picking and eating heaps of the nice small ones to munch on as they grew.
Used in Madagascar and Africa as a food and a Medicinal plant for thousands of years.
The ripe yellow fruit can be crushed and used as a "fish poison". It removes and/or binds up the O2 in the water and the fish float due to the Saponins and it totally works. Various "saponins" are also used commercially to treat many different diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, blood cancers and various forms of lung cancers.
And even more importantly, it looks really really cool!
- See more at: http://fairdinkumseeds.com/products-page/ethnobotanical-or-medicinal-plants/chuzzle-cucumber-cucumis-dipsaceus-seeds/#sthash.NPkt3tKN.dpuf

Spiky looking, but yet soft and flexible like "Velcro".
Looks like a yellow "Chuzzle" when fully ripe!
Great fun for the kiddies to grow and has a mild flavour when small and green. Good pickled or eaten fresh sliced thinly in sandwiches.
Very, bitter when big and bright yellow! Absolutely the most bitter thing in the world when they go bright yellow.
The difference between green and yellow in flavour is amazing, and there is no way you would ever eat a yellow one even if you were starving. That's the other reason they are a great plant to grow!
Great for stopping chewing or damage to your stuff by the critters!
100% safe for people, dogs, cats, horses, etc etc etc......... But, if you have a horse that won't stop chewing its dug, or a dog chewing its house or even if you can't stop chewing your nails.
Whatever it is, just apply some of the juice and that will stop it immediately! Just cut a bright yellow one in half and rub the cut surface on the affected area.
We use them for stopping the rabbits and bettongs ring-barking our seedling fruit trees in the dry times. What we do is, squeeze a heap just like oranges, strain the juice, and 2 cups of water for every cup of juice, and just paint it on with a paintbrush. You can freeze the left overs till next time you need it which is handy. Puts an immediate stop to all chewing by mammals, and even some insects!
Doesn't stain(not that I have noticed but always "patch test" it first), it's not poisonous (actually, its quite healthy, and has a long history of medicinal use) and even more importantly its CHEAP!
We get about 300 off a large vine,(every fruit in that picture was of ONE plant about 1.2m square, and that's not counting us picking and eating heaps of the nice small ones to munch on as they grew.
Used in Madagascar and Africa as a food and a Medicinal plant for thousands of years.
The ripe yellow fruit can be crushed and used as a "fish poison". It removes and/or binds up the O2 in the water and the fish float due to the Saponins and it totally works. Various "saponins" are also used commercially to treat many different diseases such as high cholesterol, heart disease, blood cancers and various forms of lung cancers.
And even more importantly, it looks really really cool!
- See more at: http://fairdinkumseeds.com/products-page/ethnobotanical-or-medicinal-plants/chuzzle-cucumber-cucumis-dipsaceus-seeds/#sthash.hXVjBiGJ.dpuf