Turkish Cucumbers

Browse and shop for Turkish cucumbers. Some of these traditional cucumber seeds have been stewarded by small communities in specific regions in Turkey. Others have been grown in home gardens and homesteads widely across the country, generation upon generation. These Turkish cucumbers reflect the significance of seed stewardship in Turkey. They also manifest the incredible diversity and richness of kitchen traditions, flavors, texture, and colors of food crops, among other traits, in the country.

Cucumber is native to Western Asia, and a crop widely celebrated for so long in Central Asia and Turkey. Turkish cucumbers come in various shapes, textures and flavors.

Cucumbers are mainly used in four different ways in Turkish cuisine:

• Fresh eating
• Making cacık (a refreshing accompaniment to main meals, made from cucumbers, mint, yogurt and garlic)
• Pickling
• Making salad (specifically, çoban salad)

In our catalog, we may also offer Turkish cucumbers which were bred as part of commercial plant breeding efforts in the 20th century in Turkey. These seeds can be more commonly found at farmers’ markets across the country. It is still possible to find these seeds in Turkish commercial seed catalogs. However, many of them are also disappearing from these catalogs due to unacceptable seed laws and regulations that force farmers to become dependent on hybrid and patented seeds. Hence, it is also one of our goals to offer these now commercially rare Turkish cucumbers to pass on their genetically powerful traits that also acknowledge and intersect traditions.

In addition, you may also find here the cucumber seeds from our culturally appropriate plant breeding and seed selection efforts.