How I keep half a cucumber from going limp

Half a cucumber already sits cut on the board — seeds wet, the cut open to the air “until supper”. By then the flesh weeps, the green dulls, the bite goes soft. I scrape the wet seeds if they pool, press the cut shut against a saucer or wrap, blot the skin, and put it in the cold — so the half stays crisp, not a limp ribbon.

How I keep half a cucumber from going limp. A whole cucumber rescued from a swamp bag is another worry; pickled cucumbers in brine are another jar; half a pepper shut so it does not soften is another board; half an aubergine kept from grey is another box. Here it is only the cucumber half: cut closed, dry to the touch, cold — crunch still in the bite.

If the rim already wilted — I trim a thin slice and use the firm middle in salad. I never soak it to “revive”: water makes it worse. I’m not comparing greenhouse grades here — only the half already on our board.

I don’t need a cucumber half that by evening begs for the bin. I need a crunch that still snaps. In your kitchen after the knife is the cut shut and cold — or left cut-up on the board until it weeps?