Nov 26, 2024

Editor’s Letter: Praising the lowly cucumber

The December 2024 issue of Vegetable Growers News focuses on the upcoming Great Lakes EXPO, Hartung Brothers, volunteer potatoes and cucumbers.

It’s amazing how much one can do with a cucumber.

USAToday reports TikTok is entranced by Logan Moffitt, a 23-year-old Canadian from Ottawa who regularly goes viral for his many cucumber salad recipes. Some of his videos, including where he makes jalapeño popper cucumber and sushi cucumber, garnered up to 19 million views.

“It’s starting to scare me how cucumber literally goes with anything,” Moffitt is quoted in the article as saying to his five million TikTok followers. There’s a community of avid cucumber “stans” — a social media term denoting highly enthusiastic and dedicated fans of celebrities, musicians or public figures. One said Moffitt has “created a worldwide cucumber shortage,” while another commenter wrote Moffitt “started a whole trend on TikTok.”

While I’m not a TikTok user, this development is great because it shines international attention on a crop that isn’t usually considered sexy or flashy. Perhaps more Americans will begin including cucumber recipes in their dining.

Hartung Brothers

Read how Hartung Brothers, a Madison, Wisconsin, grower-shipper of cucumbers is celebrating its 50th anniversary in January, and farms and processes pickling cucumbers in the U.S. and Mexico.

Great Lakes EXPO

The Great Lakes EXPO is getting closer. This year, attendees can gain insights into pest management and production practices to maximize yields. Read all about the show’s educational offerings.

Plus, at GLEXPO, this year’s crop of 40 Under Forty Fruit + Vegetable Award winners will be recognized. We hope to see you at the reception at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, on the Valent Stage, where VGN and sister publication Fruit Growers News will recognize these outstanding men and women. Check out this year’s honorees.

Veg Connections: Risk of volunteer potatoes

In the Veg Connections article, Michigan State’s Abigail Cohen and Zsofia Szendrei inform growers how winters are not cold enough to reduce the risk of volunteer potatoes.