Can you imagine a saladwithout cucumbers?Don’t you love a cool

crisp cucumber sandwich ona hot day, or fresh cucumbersin vinegar? And what woulda grilled cheese sandwich orhamburger be without pickles?

Well, cucumbers are just about the mostpopular vegetable in the home garden (re-member: tomatoes are fruits). Cucumbershave been around for awhile too. They havebeen cultivated both in India and China forabout 3,000 years. Columbus is generallygiven credit for introducing them to NorthAmerica. Thank you Christopher! Now, ofcourse, there is some dispute as to whetherhe actually made it here, but we are, none-theless, fortunate to have these wonderfulvegetables, and now is the time they shouldbe planted. I know this because all the folkswho did not listen to me earlier are nowcoming in to garden shops to replace theirfirst and second crops which have alreadydied of cold and disease. Cucumbers arewarm weather plants and should only be setout when the weather warms up and stayswarm.

Cold, wet ground is no place for cucumbers,and that’s why now is a great time to plant.

For best results, they should be planted inhills or raised beds with excellent drainage.I always dig plenty of manure down deep,about twelve inches below the ground, to givethose roots some place to go that is damp andrich in humus when the weather gets hot.Bitter-free cucumbers can only be grown ifthe plants have access to moisture, especiallyduring the fruit-bearing cycle.

If you seed cucumbers, they seem to takeoff very quickly once the weather warmsup, but transplants need a little more care.Greenhouse grown transplants need at leastfour to five days of acclimatization beforethey can be set out in the ground, and eventhen they need some protection from theelements. Incidentally, be very careful notto disturb the rootball of young plants be-cause the roots are extremely tender, andthe plants will suffer a severe set back if theroots are damaged.

There are many fine cucumber varietiesavailable today which display good diseasetolerance. But to be on the safe side, keepthat cucumber patch moving to a differentlocation in your garden each year. Wet spellsin the summer, or watering too frequentlyoverhead often cause ‘alternaria leaf spot’ ormildew. As with any disease prevention pro-gram, healthy, well-fertilized plants are lesssusceptible to these problems, but keepingthat foliage dry is really important. Copperis an effective fungicide for controlling this

problem, butyou must actquickly if thedisease appears.

Now, as to va-rieties, the listseems to groweach year. Manyexperiencedgardeners likethe old-fash-ioned ‘NationalPickling’ and‘Straight 8’varieties. Ifyou have beenhaving success with these older strains,then stay with them, but there is a wealth ofnewer varieties on the market and each hasits own unique characteristics.

When it comes to slicing cucumbers, itis burpless all the way! If you like the longEnglish types, but don’t have a greenhousehandy to keep out those pesky bees whowant to pollinate the self-pollinating variet-ies, then try either the ‘Japanese Burpless’or the shorter and sweeter yet Americanburpless, ‘Sweet Slice’. The great feature ofburpless cucumbers is the fact that you caneat the skin without fear of an upset tummy,and every fruit is bitter free.

Instead of growing these varieties on theground, take some garden trellis and make

an “A-Frame”shape so theplants can growup one side anddown the other.It makes a de-lightful gardenfeature, and it isone sure way tokeep the slugsaway from yourcucumbers.If you havelimited space,you can grow‘Fanfare’ in

containers, but be sure to use at least a four-teen inch tub and mix plenty of sterilizedcompost in with the potting soil before youplant. I have yet to find a bitter cucumberfrom these varieties.

If you would really like something differ-ent, try ‘Lemon Cucumbers’ which grow thesize, shape and colour of lemons, but stilltaste like crispy, juicy cucumbers.

Cucumbers are fun, fast and easy to growas long as we get a little co-operation fromthe weather. Remember: use raised beds andblack plastic or trellis frames, try some ofthe new varieties and keep the roots moistduring the hottest part of summer. Onceplanted, you will be enjoying that first cu-cumber sandwich in about 40 to 50 days.

REVIEWHome ShowcREEVVIEWVVCool as a cucumber – and delicious, tooIN THE GARDEN Brian Minter

www.tricitynews.com Tri-City News Friday, June 10, 2011, A49

This is not an offering for sale. Such an offering can only be made by a disclosure statement. E & O.E.

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www.tricitynews.com Tri-City News Friday, June 10, 2011, A53

www.tricitynews.comA54 Friday, June 10, 2011, Tri-City News

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