Cucumbers

Hello again everyone. We've enjoyed a good growing season this year and I'm happy to say that our fall garden has been started. There are still many things to be planted, but the cucumbers are in and looking good.

My children and I all love cucumbers, so it's natural for us to plant them each spring in the garden. I have been looking for the best cucumber to suit our needs for quite some time, and have finally come up with a winner. For our house, we love the Armenian cucumber. It is also known as the yard long cucumber, and it's name speaks for itself. It is said that these do not make very good pickling cucumbers because they tend to lose their crunch. I made quite a few jars of pickles with our spares this year and will report in a month or two what I think of this. In the meantime tough, it must be said that we have never had a bitter one. I had a lot of trouble a few years back with bitterness in our cukes. Some research suggested that this can be due to heat and low water. I'm not very good at watering the garden and prefer plants that will forgive me for this. 'Regular' or pickling cucumbers can get very bitter. English cucumbers don't tend to get bitter, but they do like a lot of water in order to produce a good volume of fruit (or should I say veggies). Armenians seem to flourish with very little attention. That means it is right for us.

I don't know how they will do in the cooler climate of a fall garden, but I'm determined to find out. Ever one to try new things, our garden is now sporting some Armenian seedlings, as well as some English cucumber seedlings. It may turn out that the English variety does better in the fall garden around here. I'll let you know if a couple of months!

There are a lot of web sites devoted to the various cucumbers, their pros and cons and preferred growing conditions. It may take a little research, but with some effort and experimentation, you should be able to find one just right for you.

Until then, happy gardening.