Cucumbers, Judge Ed and Praha History

This week I spoke to former Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka about growing cucumbers in the fall.

Janecka said his family has eaten nearly all the pickles he put up in the spring, so he’s getting ready to plant another round of cucumbers in the fall – more on that below. But that wasn’t the reason he called me.

He called to talk about the Praha Picnic, specifically about the Picnic’s founding date. This year the parish advertised the event as the 168th annual picnic, which would place the first picnic in 1855. Janecka, who has conducted much research on the Czech settlements of Fayette County, wondered whether the annual picnic really started in 1855. Janecka said he knows of only one Czech living at that time in what is now Praha. Back then, the community was known as Hotentot, and it was a notorious refuge for criminals and outlaws. Most of the Czech settlers arrived and began gentrifying the area after the Civil War. The present church was built in 1892.

According to the late local historian Norman Krischke, the first Catholic church in Praha was established in 1865. Frank Lotto, who wrote the 1902 book “Fayette County, Her History and Her People,” gives the church’s founding year as 1867. So when did the picnic get started?

Janecka speculated that the 1855 date may refer to the founding of Praha as a recognizable community. If anyone has historical evidence about the early days of the Praha picnic, I would love to see it. You can reach me by email at andy@fayettecountyrecord. com.

Then our conversation turned to plating cucumbers for the fall.

“If you give them enough water to get started, I think they will survive,” Janecka said. “When the seed comes out of the ground, it can get accustomed to the weather if you have enough water to start with.”

Janecka said he has successfully grown cucumbers in the fall several times. In my experience, cucumbers tend to grow well in the spring time right until the time it gets hot. The heat seems to send them into a shock. They turn yellow, shrivel and die even if you provide plenty of water. When the seed begins life in hot weather during the late summer, it will grow to maturity as weather gets milder during the fall.

Cucumbers stop producing fruit when temperatures get above 90 degrees. So if you get a late start planting cucumbers in the spring, the harvest can be very brief. If you time it right in the fall, cucumbers will stay in production almost until cold weather arrives. A super-early frost, however, could ruin the crop.

Janecka said he plans to plant cucumbers from seed around Sept. 1. The trickiest part might be germination. Cucumber seed germinates the best at temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees. Higher temperatures might hamper germination. For direct-seeding, it might be a good idea to plant two or three seeds per hole. Or you can germinate them in small pots in a warm spot in your home, like on top of the refrigerator. As soon as they sprout, move them to a shady spot outside for a few days and then gradually move them to full sun.

Depending on the variety of cucumber, dill takes about the same number of days to reach maturity, maybe just a little longer. So plant them around the same time if you want to make pickles. Janecka said he planted some dill seed this week.