Cucumbers are seriously fun to grow. I had no idea. I've never planted them before but I figured what the heck, I could put them in my salads. In the Square Foot Gardening Method, you plant cucumbers two to a square foot, directly from seed as soon as last frost is past. I did one square of them, so on April 26 or so, I put 2 little cucumber seeds in my designated square. They apparently became enormous underground, and on May 3 these two things that looked like giant lima beans popped up out of the earth. They then grew into the tower'o'cucumbers you see here. That's two large tomato cages zip tied together to make them taller. Then they bloomed! Pretty yellow flowers, some of which have little miniature cucumbers at their base. Those are the girls. Once they get pollinated the little mini cuke gets bigger so that it looks like a little pickle hanging on the vine. And then they turn into cucumbers. To quote my daughter's friend who was over the other day, "that is so cool!"
The plants are big, lush, and happy. They're making lots of cucumbers. All they ask of me is that they get a good drink of water every day or 2. I picked 3 this morning and I'm going to make cucumber salad. Apparently it's important to keep them picked so the vine doesn't stop producing.
The variety I'm growing are called Tendergreen Burpless. I have eaten one so far, and they are indeed tender and green, but not so burpless. Also, you have to pick them when they're on the small side, 4-6 inches long. Next year I may try to find a variety that's a little more burpless, and can be picked a little larger.
The other thing that surprised me, besides how easy and satisfying they are to grow, is that cucumbers have prickles. Who knew? I've only ever seen the waxy green things in the grocery store and you'd never suspect. I can't believe I never knew cucumbers had prickles. It's as if I just suddenly found out that birds have teeth. Go figure.
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