By Meghan Vanderford
3^rd grade, Sacramento county
Illustrated by Sheldon High School

There once was a cucumber who was 4 years old. He wanted to become a pickle, because his parents, grandparents and older brothers and sisters were pickles. He wanted to look the same as his family.

So, he went to his Grandfather's house on day and told him about his troubles. He said, "I'm the only cucumber in our family, Grandfather Dill, how can I become like you?"

Well my Boy, our family story goes way back in history, three thousand years ago in India, that is where our ancestors came from. From Asia, they moved to Greece and Italy, where the Roman really like to eat us. The Romans thought we were so good to eat they told the French people in the 9th century, and they shared with the people from England in the 14th century. Finally they sailed to North American in the 16th century and that is when we arrived here in America.

We got the name cucumber from the word cowcumber, because in the late 1600s people thought that any fruit or vegetable grown in orchard of garden caused diseases and deaths, because they were not cooked. People were afraid to eat cucumbers, so we were fed to cows.

We are a gourd, like the pumpkin and squash that you see during Thanksgiving time. When we ware planted in gardens or big fields we like a lot of water and soil with manure and compost. Cutworms love to eat us when we are young plants near the ground. When we become older we are sometimes attacked by a striped or spotted cucumber beetle. Life is dangerous for us when we are young.

Finally, if we live through all of Mother Nature's pests we grow up to be crisp, healthy and crunchy cucumbers like you my boy.

But, Grandfather you never told me how you became a pickle.

Well, I did get a little off the subject, so pay close attention and here the story goes… First, we must be scrubbed, ouch to remove loose spines. Next, we are soaked in salty water called brine. Then we are preserved which means to save or keep in vinegar or some other food acid. So we will stay fresh. We can be flavored with different seasonings, like cinnamon, garlic and dill. Does that answer your question?

Yes, but now I wanted to stay a cucumber.