Lemon Cucumbers in my Garden

I (accidentally) started growing an heirloom called Lemon Cucumbers this spring. Some of my seeds got mixed up but I planted pickling cucumbers because I wanted to make my own pickles. Well, that was my intention anyway. In the last month, my cucumber plants have been going wild with flowers and these yellow tennis balls have been emerging. I kept waiting, thinking that they will eventually turn green and elongate, so I left them on the vine.

Week after week, they got bigger and bigger but never really turned green. Clearly, these were not regular cucumber.  I posted pictures around asking if anyone knew what kind of cucumbers they were. Maybe squash? 

Now, they have been identified as lemon cucumbers. So after doing some research I discovered a few things.  I let my little lemon cucumbers stay on the vine too long, they don't taste anything like lemon-not even a hint, and I CAN still pickle them! You can guess what blog will be next right...pickled lemon cucumbers! 

Vertical Cucumbers

Well a little about cucumbers to start with, they are very easy to grow and are very prolific. They need to be planted in a section of the garden that receives full sun and has an evenly moist, fertile soil. With that, success is almost guaranteed.

Like other summer vine crops, cucumbers are heavy feeders and demand a steady supply of water. Work plenty of organic matter (compost, well-rotted manure) into the soil before planting to help it retain moisture and to provide the nutrients the cucumber plants will need throughout the season. 

I read an article recently about growing vegetables vertically. I really like this idea because it keeps all the produce off the ground and according to research, it dramatically increases yields because the vines receive better air circulation and more sunlight than vines on the ground. I am trying this concept out with cucumbers. 

My grampa helped me make a trellis for them to climb. We decided 5" squares should work well. I'm hoping it will gives the cucumber plant a little more light by having more space, and plenty of room to fall through the holes for growing. (We also made one standing vertical for Jessalynne's green beans to climb and gave it a little extra support). If the cucumbers grow well, I am anxious to try the vertical gardening with some other fruit/vegetables like melon and tomatoes. I read that tomatoes grow really well vertical (or hanging). 

2014 is my garden guinea pig year. My year of trial and error. I am hoping to be successful as a new Floridian, but I know it will likely take a few years to workout all the kinks of what works, and what doesn't. My planting/harvest timing is also going to be a huge experiment this year!

Building Raised Garden Beds

My husband finally got a break from work and helped me finish the last of my garden beds. We used 2x4 and 2x6 pieces of wood with stakes in the corner to strengthen them and screws to hold everything together. My kids love helping, especially when it comes to the garden so even though it is extra stressful sometimes, and everything takes even longer, we try to let them help as much as possible. I hope by allowing them to help, plant, water and watch the seeds grow, maybe they will be more excited about eating (and better enjoying) the fruits of our labor. Jess (age 6) has been writing about it during her free writing time in school (kindergarten) so I know she has been thinking about it, and is excited to watch everything grow. Brixton (2 1/2) just likes to dig everything up and play in the dirt... but hopefully once the little red tomatoes start growing he will enjoy picking them and eating them! Chloee (age 4 1/2) loves to help, but said she would like to give her share away to someone else who needs it (so she doesn't have to eat it)... I'm hoping as stuff grows she will change her mind LOL.
Once we finished the boxes, I stapled weed barrier to the bottom of the bed in hopes of keeping my nice well composted dirt from mixing into our Florida dirt (sand) too much. *Fingers Crossed*. Then I will just need to pickup a little bit more dirt to finish filling them so I can start getting the rest of my seedlings all transplanted. Not a bad start... I'm anxious to see how this first year of gardening in Florida goes!

My adventure of gardening in North East Florida

You might wonder why I chose canning? It's a lot of work, yes. What if your power goes out? We are trying to get a stock supply to last us through a month of no power. I'm pretty sure all my friends and family will appreciate having hot soup or stew, and fresh veggies during a major catastrophe like a hurricane or storm that causes a major power outage. You never know what to expect but I know properly canned and preserved foods can last over 50 years on your shelf. My freezer cannot do that.

So where to start?
Planning planning planning! There are so many individual parts to this "growing-our-own-food-project" we needed to pick a place to start. I broke down everything we need to do, in an order I think will work...

1) Garden Beds - we need them built, and need good organic soil to fill them
2) What to plant- what will grow during this season? What needs sown directly into the ground and what needs transplanted?
3) Planting - we need seeds and starters
4) Rain Barrels - we need to buy gutters and install them &  rain barrels for collecting water
5) Gardening - we need garden beds and healthy vegetable plants
6) Canning supplies - I have some but I have nothing to can yet!

We decided a good place to start on this whole adventure is to buy seeds, and build the garden beds. We spent a good portion of the day building raised garden beds (because here in Florida, we have sand not soil so planting on the ground doesn't make for very healthy plants) we were able to use almost all leftover wood we had from previous projects. I did a lot of research as to what I should be growing in April and May in North Eastern Florida, and what seeds needed to be transplanted vs sown directly into the ground. We bought some starter Strawberry plants, Blueberry bushes and a bunch of Organic seeds and planted the tomatoes and bell peppers into a little makeshift green house. Others (green beans, watermelon, zucchini and pumpkin) will go directly into the garden bed once we pickup the dirt.

That leaves me about 2 weeks to pickup dirt, and get my compost barrels built and ready and to start composting so I have fresh organic fertilizer/soil for my garden.

My kids are planting pots of Blueberries and strawberries right now. They love helping.