Cucumis sativus “Vert de Paris”
Paris green gherkin, fine Meaux gherkin: botanically, a gherkin is nothing more than a cucumber harvested very young. But this old variety was selected for exactly that: small, firm fruits covered in prickles that retain their crunch after being preserved in jars. A good enough reason to grow it when you know that almost all the gherkins sold in France come from elsewhere.
Characteristics:
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Small, firm fruits: harvest at between 4 and 8 cm, covered in prickles.
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Old variety: seed-saving, highly productive, and fast-growing.
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Climbing plant: its tendrils cling to any support, trellis, or pergola.
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Cold-sensitive: it will not grow as long as temperatures remain below 12°C.
Sowing advice:
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Position: full sun, warm and sheltered.
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Soil: rich in humus, moist, and well drained. Like all Cucumis, it has a high need for water and organic matter: add plenty of mature compost. It is just as sensitive to cold as it is to stagnant moisture.
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Method: do not sow too early. Sow in pots under cover from April at 20°C, or directly in the ground only once the soil has warmed up well, at a depth of 2 cm. See how to sow seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the last frosts, spacing plants 60 cm apart, at the foot of a support. Trellised, it takes up little space and its clearly visible fruits will not escape your notice.
Care advice:
- Water regularly at the base, without wetting the foliage. Mulch to retain moisture.
- Pinch out the main stem above the fourth leaf to encourage branching, which bears the female flowers.
Harvesting advice:
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The decisive point: harvest every day or every other day during the peak season. A gherkin grows very quickly—in 48 hours it becomes a small cucumber, and every fruit left on the plant stops the production of subsequent fruits.
- Cut the stem with pruning shears rather than pulling on the vine.
Beneficial companions:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its yellow flowers are heavily visited by bees, on which fruit set entirely depends.
- When trellised, it forms a plant screen that shelters beneficial insects and shades more fragile crops in midsummer.
Uses:
- Pickled with tarragon, garlic, and small onions, lacto-fermented, or simply eaten raw when tiny. Rub them with a cloth before putting them in jars to remove the prickles.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Leave one fruit on the plant to turn yellow and grow fully, sacrificing it for seed production. Remove the seeds, let them ferment for two days in a little water, then rinse and dry them. It cross-pollinates with other cucumbers: isolate your seed plant. See how to save your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, carefully sorted and packaged, without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Your own jar of gherkins: a pleasure that has become rare.
