I missed it two weeks ago, but Sainsbury, the largest grocery chain in the United Kingdom, premiered heart-shaped cucumbers for Valentine’s Day customers.
The grocery giant announced it plans to start selling star-shaped cukes this summer. A half of one sells for $1.66, which is equivalent to one English pound of currency. Both shapes have been sold in Japan for more than four years and soon will be available in U.S. stores.
My first question was, “Is this more genetic tinkering?” Upon, researching, I found it’s not.
The cucumbers are grown about ten days in clear plastic molds to shape them. Molds are slipped on cucumbers when they are about one inch long. It’s best to trellis vines so that rapidly-developing fruits grow straight.
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My next question was, “Can I get my engineer husband to make some molds for me?” You can buy them from Japanese sources, but they are $85 each, plus $19 shipping! That’s a bit steep.
Fruits and vegetables have been grown in molds such as bottles and boxes for centuries to alter their shapes. Renaissance wine makers put bottles over tiny, developing pears so that the pear grows in the bottle. Perry or pear wine filled the rest of the bottle, and it was corked and aged for several months. The resulting drink was bubbly and mild and a favorite of British and French ladies.
I’ll let you know if husband makes any or if I find a more reasonably-priced source for heart and star cucumber molds. I think they’d be a wonderful addition to salads and relish trays to celebrate July 4th this year.
What do you think about these new cucumbers? Do you plan on growing any new garden varieties this year? Please share your thoughts, questions, and comments below!
Doreen G. Howard
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You can also get the molds here http://www.sowdelicious.co.za They are much sturdier than the Japanese ones and are made from food grade plastic and are also much cheaper. Bought mine there - they great
I investigated the Spain suppier for both personal and as a retail item via our business and the shipping from Spain is a deterrent for me in either quantity, but the company is looking into a state side distributor. FYI the Spain manufacturer is Zayintec; are large agri- GMO seed company. You can check them out at the .com of the name.
Would soap molds work?
http://cart.candlesupply.com/Tube-Loaf-Insert-Molds-c-385.html
or perhaps silicone as todd found the plastic cracked
http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/ProductDetail.aspx?CatalogID=1&GroupID=261&CategoryID=2022&ProductID=8548&ProductName=Crafters+Choice%E2%84%A2+Hearts+%26+Lips+Mini+-+Silicone+Tube+Mold+1901
I found it extremely difficult to remove the plastic pins at the bottom of the heart shaped Japanese molds. After using an Japanese mold just a few times the tabs that are around the plastic pins start cracking and thus rend the mold useless. Other attempts to hold the mold closed was futile.
by Todd Gordon
This spanish molds works really good, and are quite cheaper than the japanese one
www.withheartandstar.com
I am looking to make the heart shaped cucumber mould in the UK and have it available in about 6 weeks if all goes to plan.
If anybody is still interested please let me know. Also how much would you be expecting to pay?, With this information I can make sure it is a viable idea.
Thank you
I would be interested in owning and selling these (Tag Nab It caters to the gardening community with whimsy). I think $20 Us dollars would be a reasonable resale price for a set of 3
You can buy it for 10 € here
http://www.withheartandstar.com/home
I found a great site but they are out of business vegiforms.com! They have been around a long time and quit because of the price of plastic due to oil prices. I tried to order on Jan 29,2012. They sold diamond shaped, and faces like a Garden Elf and "PicklePuss" for cheap $10.95! Why can't someone easily make the heart and star molds in the USA. I checked the Japanese website and now they want $91 and $22 for shipping for 3 of the heart molds or 3 of the star molds. WAY too expensive! Can't Americans come up with a cheaper way? It's a shame that the USA has lost all ideas and motivation to manufacture OUR OWN versions! It shouldn't cost almost $40 for one mold... come on US engineers-- we know you can do it. I hope the Tweddell's from Vegiforms give it another try someday. I'll be waiting in line! It's just a shame the Japan and China can manufacture everything and the USA has lost that ability. What is the US turning into? We should be able to stand tall and make anything we want--NOT DEPEND ON OTHER COUNTRIES!
Look here
http://www.withheartandstar.com/home
are the cheapest one
