Saving Gigantor the Mutant

I could feel its cold heft, its thorny skin piercing my soft hand as I shrieked...

Bundling myself against the chill, the temperature seemed to plummet with my first step into the autumn-languishing garden.

Dead vines and leaves strangling the last gasps of color.
Thorns everywhere.
The green draining from the few remaining leaves.
The rose petals half-devoured and dying.

The feeling of being watched was palpable. I felt its presence only moments before seeing its monstrous green body which had grown in secret, lurking under cover until the time had come.

Meet Gigantor the Mutant and His Evil Apprentice, Zurg

That's a BIG cucumber - and the REALLY BIG one's just crazy.

From experience, I know these big boys are beyond biting. They're too old, too far gone. But not for saving seeds, thanks to @lyndsaybowes and her how-to piece for lazy gardeners.

So, I followed her tutorial, step by step.

First I sliced Gigantor and Zurg open from head to toe.

Put some warm water into a quart canning jar.

Scooped the seeds out and drowned them in water.

Done? Not Hardly!

I cut the cuke corpses into bits, their death-throe thorns prickling me with every slice.

Casting Gigantor and Zurg's remains out to our mini-raptors, I was careful to make sure they didn't mistake me for their prey.

And then... I slowly backed away.

We'll give the seeds a few days to do what they're going to do (separate themselves from the pulp and sink to the bottom). Then just as @lyndsaybowes taught, I'll let them dry on paper towels, which we'll save in a big, dark paper bag until spring.

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