CUCUMBER

Whenever I think of cucumbers, I remember years ago when I was a waitress. One day, when a couple at one of my tables was ordering, the gal asked, “Can I have the cumbercues left out of my sandwich?” She had a totally straight face. The man with her looked at me with his eyes popped out, I looked at him with mine popped out, and she didn’t notice. I brought her sandwich later, reminding her that there were no cumbercues. He and I both had a hard time not laughing. I’ve never forgotten, and often call these cumbercues with a chuckle.

That said, fresh cucumbers are not a huge favorite in our household. Laurie likes a few slices in salads or a dish of marinated cucumbers with red onion. Pickle slices or pickle relish are occasionally made, and I’m beginning to grow more cucumbers for this purpose.

Cucumbers have been hit-and-miss outdoors, either due to poor planting or inattention or it’s just too cold. Some years have been better than others.

Cucumbers have done quite well in the greenhouse. They’ve either been placed in a tomato cage to grow up and trail around the cage, they have been strung up to a beam to hang onto the string, or allowed to sprawl. Generally, one cucumber plant at a time is plenty for us.

HIGH ELEVATION GROWING TIP: CUCUMBERS

Since “every year is different” in our outdoor gardens, go ahead and try them every year. Some years or some varieties may be a bust, but in the good years it’s nice to have a few for eating or pickling.

CUCUMBER VARIETIES GROWN

Spacemaster 80 OP || 62 Days || DTH: 90 Days – Several nice cucs grown outdoors.
Summer Dance F1 || 65 Days || Never had success with this one.
Suhyo Long Fruited || 61 Days || DTH: 69 days from transplant – Grows very well.
Muncher || 60 Days || DTH: 55+ Days (Has not done well in my experience.)