Cucumbers- what's the deal???

[lesa]

I grow a lot of things, but I don't seem to be able to successfully grow cucumbers. Is there a trick, a secret??? My soil is beautiful compost filled, fertilized with chicken poop (not hot)...Our weather has not been the greatest yet, but my plants don't look very good. I ended up losing all of mine last year, to some kind of mildew. I really wanted to make relish this year....

 

[FarmerDenise]

What area do you live in. The weather sure has a lot to do with how well cukes will grow. We lost all of our pickling cukes last year, because it got so hot, the roots got literally cooked in the ground.
We have found that lemon cukes withstand more climatic adversities. And they don't turn bitter if they don't get enough water!!! You can even pickle them.
By the way you can make relish using other vegies. As a matter of fact most relish recipes I have found use peppers. Zuccini makes a great relish, I also use green (as in unripe) tomatoes.
I used to think that you need cukes for relish also, until someone gave me a jar of zucchini relish. We didn't use it for a long time, because we thought it was weird. Then one day we needed relish for something and didn't have any. So I opened the jar of zucchini relish and found it to be just fantastic. I have since found the recipe and been making my own.

 

[Greenthumb18]

What area do you live in. The weather sure has a lot to do with how well cukes will grow. We lost all of our pickling cukes last year, because it got so hot, the roots got literally cooked in the ground.
We have found that lemon cukes withstand more climatic adversities. And they don't turn bitter if they don't get enough water!!! You can even pickle them.
By the way you can make relish using other vegies. As a matter of fact most relish recipes I have found use peppers. Zuccini makes a great relish, I also use green (as in unripe) tomatoes.
I used to think that you need cukes for relish also, until someone gave me a jar of zucchini relish. We didn't use it for a long time, because we thought it was weird. Then one day we needed relish for something and didn't have any. So I opened the jar of zucchini relish and found it to be just fantastic. I have since found the recipe and been making my own.

Ummm zucchini relish, i know someone in italy who makes her own. She uses just the peel from the zucchini and slices it very thin then she dries it in the sun for a few days, and i think she packs it in olive oil. But it is good, i'm even thinking of making some this year.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Greenthumb18, That sounds good too. Considering how fast some of those zucchini get huge, it would be a great way to use them. I can still give the rest of it to the chickens.

The relish recipe pretty much calls for the whole zuke to be cut up real small, the same as you would any other vegie that would be used in relish.

If anyone is interested, I'll go look it up and post it. It's in my MIL's old pickling book.

 

[lesa]

I am in upstate NY- zone 4. Heat is rarely a problem. We had frost Sunday night! I did cover the cukes. It is very early in the growing season for us, but they just look pale and not very healthy...I would love to have the zucchini relish recipe. That sounds great!

 

[Catalina]

I live in zone 3/4 and just planted my cucumbers. They are about 1 inch tall with their first leaves.

At least here in MN, you can't plant them too early, because they like warm soil. Remember - Plant seed in May, throw it away. Plant seed in June, comes just as soon.

By August they're done, because the weather gets too hot. The leaves bleach out and that's the end of cucumber season.

I hope you have better luck with your cucumbers this year!

 

[FarmerDenise]

The zucchini relish recipe is not in the book I thought it was in. I'll have to research further. I go through this every year
I have several books with good pickling recipes and I go through them all, trying to find the one I'm thinking of

 

[digitS']

I water the gardens with sprinklers and plant the cukes where they'll get the most water - right near the sprinklers. With porous soil and in an arid climate - water is a limiting factor for most everything here.

There are other needs for the cucumbers. Last year was probably the worse ever for cukes, melons, and other plants that like it warm. The end of May was warm and then June turned cool, cloudy and wet. Many of the melons died !

The lemon cukes did come thru the best, I gotta say. But, I still had a few of every thing off vines that had a real tough time of it early on.

Steve

 

[lesa]

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll just keep watering and keep my fingers crossed. I started the plants in my cold frames with organic seeds- so I had high hopes...I am not really patient enough to be a gardener!

 

[seedcorn]

Once you try zucchini relish, you won't want pickle relish.......just a warning. I can eat zucchini relish by itself.