My first cucumbers are ready for harvest! This is a variety called Rocky. A very nice slicing cucumber. Also nice in a summer martini.
I hesitated to post this photo of my hand. It is too brown this year. And my nails are dirty and ragged. One of the consequences of gardening I suppose.
In any case, cheers! I hope you too are enjoying a good summer harvest.
Topic: martini!
harvests from my vegetable gardens
5 comments:
Your cukes look so interesting!
I had my first cukes about a week and a half ago. I have had about 6so far, but am skeptical of where it's all going. I have four cuke plants in containers, which seem to want to die on me every day. They wilt every 24 hours, it is impossible to keep them watered properly.
I have 2 more cuke plants in a Topsy-Turvy .... they currently have about 8-10 cukes between them, the largest being about 5 inches at the moment, with a few 2-inchers, and lots of babies ... but I don't know. There are an awful lot of lower yellow leaves that are wilting.
I have a few more plants that have overgrown into the grass when I wasn't looking. It's too complicated to weed now and I may just let them run their course.
A year for experimentation with the cucumbers here. Yours look great!
Me too!
My cukes are now very sensitive to drying out. They wilt in the evening and then I give them lots of water. Cucumbers have shallow roots and need consistent watering.
I have picked about 6 cukes so far this year, and many small ones are on the vines now.
I'm afraid I didn't plant enough seeds. (I have about 18 plants - 6 Rocky, 6 striped Armenian and 6 pickling cukes.)
I spent nearly an hour tonight clearing some 8 foot tall weeds (sun chokes) that had grown up on the east side of the cukes. I think the additional airflow and morning sun may help. Cukes prefer a lot of sun.
Cuke vines should take off and be hardy and prolific now through the end of Sept. I think its just a matter of helping them get going with extra water as they expand their roots and start producing fruits.
Containers can be very hard to water consistently. Containers dry out really fast in mid summer.
I don't have any yellow leaves on my cuke vines. Like you said, I would worry that you may not be able to keep up with the water for cucumbers vines in containers. Or the yellow leaves could indicate some pest.
For several years I tried to grow pumpkins in containers (big pots). It never worked. It may be that these vines need too much water for container growing. I'm not sure... I always enjoy experimenting. Good luck!
I thought these recipes look really good. They are from http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/cucumber1.html.
I look forward to having enough cukes to try these.
Recipes
Cucumber Yogurt Salad Dressing
This is a delicious, heart healthy, low calorie salad dressing which can be used as a dip for steamed or raw vegetables or as a topping for baked potatoes or steamed carrots. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
* 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 2/3 cup)
* 2/3 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
* 2 tablespoons minced red onion
* 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons rice vinegar or white vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
* 2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until creamy and smooth. Chill for about 2 hours before serving. Makes 1-1/2 cups.
Thai Cucumber Salad
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup rice vinegar
* 4 pickling or slicing cucumbers, sliced lengthwise, seeded and thinly sliced
* 1 shallot, thinly sliced
* 10 whole cilanto leaves
* 1/4 cup red pepper, julienne (about 1 inch long)
Combine the sugar, vinegar and salt and heat in a small sauce pan until sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes) do not boil. Set saucepan in cold water to cool the vinegar mixture. When cool, pour over cucumbers and garnish with red peppers. Serves four.
My nails look like yours. I guess I'm in good company. Your garden is inspiring.
The women I work with have beautiful nails. Arrggh. I get so embarrassed. Its mostly my thumb nail.... Just before I took this photo I was tying my tomato vines and picking off the suckers.
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