If there was anything I went into this year with garden-related confidence, it was cucumber plants. Confidence, it would seem, breeds new learning opportunities in the form of previously unexperienced problems. Largely, I will blame my lack of prepwork regarding seeding time. 

This year we really fell behind on planting starts, which would be transplanted into the greenhouse. We thought we had cucumber seeds left over from last year, when in fact we didn’t have any at all. At least any that were viable. We frantically sought out new seeds as the growing season started and progressed, and tried some old ones. They failed to germinate and cost us about two weeks. 

When we finally got the seeds we wanted, they were a new variety compared to what we were used to. Still good seeds I would say, but the nuances of how they grow were different from what we were expecting. Long story short, they had a drawn-out germination, a long development stage, weak transplantability and have only now started to fruit. 

On the bright side of things, it appears we will now have cucumbers when most others are finishing their cucumber season. We grew a pairing of picklers and slicers, and as we learned how the varieties differ, we saw what appeared to be a reverse in the size of the initial fruit. The small picklers threw out large fat cucumbers to start, and the long slicers wouldn’t make anything bigger than a little gherkin-sized shorty. 

Well, with much hair-pulling and prayer, a week or so from these first fruits we finally saw more of our fruit coming on, and the sizes are more in line with the varieties they are associated with. And before you ask—no, we did not get the seeds switched at planting. We triple-checked. But yes we did think we were going crazy there for a minute.

We’ve just begun firing up the old pressure canner for a few things, including sweet corn and peaches. Apples are starting on strong now, so that’s an anticipated next-on-deck. But as soon as we get enough pickling cucumbers, it’s going to be spears and gherkins and relish, OH MY! We eat a lot of tuna so a healthy supply of sweet relish is a must, and sometimes you just need an extra dill or two to make that sandwich complete. 

I’m not one for the fresh cucumbers as much as my wife is but she snuck a few crunchy ones on our salads this week and I can’t complain; they turned out pretty well compared to what I’m used to. 

I’m still fighting the good cucumber battle however, as there is no rest for the dedicated cucumber farmer. We grow ours on trellises—which in our case are strings. We prune all of the suckers to promote central fruiting and long plants, but what this means is they only have one way to go to focus their energy. Up.

As the cucumbers climb the string to the eight-foot support bars, they move pretty fast, sometimes growing six to 12 inches in a day. When they do, I have to let more string out of the spool at the top and move it down the line, slowly lowering the vines to the ground as we prune old growth from the bottom. By doing this, the plant stays healthier overall, and gets more air circulation, pollination and sunlight. Also the fruits hang openly and don’t get punky on the ground. 

It’s a process that just keeps going as long as the plant survives. And while I struggle with a lot of things in the greenhouse, I can keep a cucumber plant going for quite a while. If this year is anything like last year, I will probably have 20-foot plants before they finally start to run out of steam. 

The way out here, even the things we thought we knew can give us some trouble. As long as we stick to our guns and keep putting the work in, I’ve found the Lord does a lot to reward that. May your pickles be crunchy and your salads be fresh. Enjoy the rest of the growing season in what little remains of it.