Today’s spotlight is on a variety I am just now starting to harvest this year – Tasty Jade cucumber. Tasty Jade has been a dependable producer for me for many years now, and is one of my favorite cucumbers both in the garden and in the kitchen.
Tasty Jade cucumbers
Tasty Jade is a Japanese type ‘burpless’ cucumber. This variety is parthenocarpic, which means it can set fruit without pollination. This makes it great for growing in the greenhouse, and usually makes for earlier fruits when grown in the open garden. Tasty Jade produces fruits that are about 12 inches long, seedless, and with a thin, tender, dark green skin. The skin is also fairly smooth, and has relatively few spines or bumps in it. If trellised or otherwise supported up off the ground, the fruits will generally grow long and straight, though a little curving does sometimes occur.
Tasty Jade cucumbers supported by cage
closeup of Tasty Jade cucumber
The long cucumbers are easy to slice, and make for very uniform pieces. I consider this a plus, since a lot of our cukes get made into pickles. I also like the lack of seeds, which makes for nice looking and tasting slices.
Tasty Jade is seedless
All in all, Tasty Jade is a great variety if you like a Japanese type slicing cucumber. It has been a prolific and reliable producer for me under all sorts of growing conditions. In the U.S., seed is available from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Reimers Seeds.
slices of Tasty Jade cucumber
To find other great varieties, visit Suburban Tomato where Liz hosts the Saturday Spotlight series. I hope you’ve enjoyed this Saturday Spotlight, and I’ll be back soon with another variety.
To see my other Saturday Spotlights, visit the Variety Spotlights page.