The Tale of the Lemon Cucumber

I was so excited to plant cucumbers in our garden this year.  I enjoy cucumbers fresh, but I was most looking forward to the prospects of pickling.  Looked forward to harvesting a number of little green cucumbers and taking them straight to the pickle jar.  I bought a seed packet with a picture of a lovely green cucumber on the front and was ready to go!

One of the cucumber seeds I planted really took off, and I planted it in the corner of the garden, expecting it to grow along the ground.  After it was planted in the ground, the cucumber plant grew like crazy, and I routed it out of the garden to grow along the fence-line.  The vines grew and grew, and soon pretty little yellow flowers began to emerge throughout the lush green leaves. 

The flowers came and went without any cucumbers beginning to grow.  I inspected the plant every day for changes and still nothing new.  One afternoon after work, I was checked the plant and saw a little white orb by the base of the stem.  It didn't look like what I expected a cucumber to be, but I figured it was young and it would soon take the all too familiar shape I was looking for.

That remained to be the only cucumber on the plant for at least a week, and the little orb wasn't getting any longer, and it wasn't getting any greener.  In fact, it was getting rounder, and it was turning yellow.  I thought maybe this was just an unfortunate mutation since it was the first cucumber on the plant.  Soon, other little orbs began to take shape on the vines, and I knew something wasn't right.

One evening, Kevin came over and we showed him our cucumber plant.  He was also growing cucumbers in his garden, so we asked him if his started out in this peculiar way.  He informed us that his cucumbers started out looking like little cucumbers and just got bigger.  More confused than ever, Valerie retrieved the cucumber seed packet to see if it would offer any answers. 

We looked on the back of the packet for information, and found nothing noteworthy.  Then, we looked on the front.  Underneath the big bold "CUCUMBER" on the front of the packet was the word "Lemon" and it went on to describe it.  We had purchased and planted lemon cucumbers.  We found out they are called "lemon" not because of the taste, but because they are about the size and color of a lemon when ripe.

So, that first cucumber wasn't an unfortunate mutation at all, it looked just as it was supposed to look.  Realizing that the cucumber on the vine was ripe, we hurried outside to pick it.  We were excited to try a new variety of cucumber that we had never even heard of before.  Come to find out, it tastes exactly like a green cucumber.  It was a little strange.  

I was glad the mystery was solved, and the plant soon began to produce more cucumber than we could reasonably consume.  Plus, the yellow orbs became a nice conversation piece with guests and neighbors.  With a surplus on hand, I soon set my sights on making yellow pickles...

Garden Update

It never fails.  For about two months, the garden looks nice, neat and organized in the small patch of land we fenced off for it.  Then, boom!  The plants start to breach their confinement and it gets hard to tell where one begins and the other ends.  Once once small plants transform into a lush, green garden jungle of sorts.  It still surprises me, but at least everything is happy and healthy.

The tomatoes will be ripe for the picking soon, and we have been eating lettuce for some time.  There are little jalapeno peppers taking shape, and the cantaloupe is starting to flower.  Our cucumber plant started to take over the garden, so I had to move it over the side of the fence.  Though huge, it still hasn't produced any cucumbers, which concerns me.  Unfortunately, our pea plants were a bust; they just shriveled up for some reason.   It is an otherwise exciting time in the garden and I can't wait to see what the coming month will bring!

Cherry Tomato

Tomato

Lettuce

Jalapeno

Garden Update

This year has been quite trying for the garden.  Multiple severe thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and flash floods have left my holding me breath as they blow through town.  Thankfully, there was no frost after we made the transition outside.  The tipping point came a week ago when about three inches of rain fell in three hours.

We were out during most of the storm and it was still raining as we pulled into the driveway.  Approaching the door, I looked into the back yard to take a look at the plants, and I couldn't see them.  Thinking my view had just been obstructed by the rain, I grabbed my umbrella to go out to take a closer look.  When I got there, I saw the tomato plants laying flat on their side, being pelted by the rain.  Panic stricken, I ran to the garage to get my tomato stakes.  As it continued to rain, I put the stakes in the ground and gently lifted the plants and tied them up.  I couldn't step one foot in the garden or it would just sink.  Once the tomatoes were staked, I splashed some of the standing water out of the garden and hoped for the best.

To my delight, most of the plants came out unscathed.  I lost some of my little lettuce sprouts, and a basil plant, but everything else bounced back nicely.  The tomato plants were a bit wilted for a day or two, but they look as strong as ever now.  Overall, the garden is looking great!  One of my cantaloupe seeds finally germinated and we were even able to harvest some of our lettuce to eat with our dinner salads.  It's such an exciting time, everything seems to be growing so fast!

Lettuce

Cucumber

Cantaloupe

Tomato

Grounded

We moved our young plants from the safety of the porch to the big world of the garden over the weekend.  I'm always nervous moving them outside because they look so small on fragile.  But, it needs to be done, and I'm sure they will thrive!

Tomato

(Wisconsin 55)

Cucumber

Lettuce

Pea

There are a few other plants in the garden that didn't really warrant pictures at this time, but I'm sure their time will come soon enough.

We got rid of the little wooden fence we had last year and opted for a white metal variety.  We did this to "Walter-proof" the garden since he essentially destroyed the fence we had last year.  It may not look as nice, but I hope it is effective.  I love to watch our modest little garden grow!

Preparing to Pea

One of the new additions to our garden this year is the pea; the Oregon Sugar Pod to be exact.  The little sprouts are quite distinguishable from the other plants in our starter box, and I think they are really fun to look at for some reason.

This variety of pea plants are said to produce large and reliable yields of classic stir fry snow peas.  Soon it will be time to bust out the wok!  They are also a bush type plant so I won't have to give them any type of support system or structure.  We'll have to have a pea party at my house when it's harvest time!

Get ready to get dirty

It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.  This year Emilie joined the fun as we planted seeds for our garden.  The kids didn't really need me, but I was eager to help.  I distributed the seeds and they gently placed them in the dirt.  Ari was a wonderful teacher for Emilie who did not hesitate to get her hands dirty.  This has become quite the tradition.

Items to be featured in our garden include:

Tomato (Wisconsin 55)

Cherry Tomato

Basil

Jalapeno

Cantaloupe

Cucumber

Pea

Leaf Lettuce

We are going to put the basil and jalapeno plants in their own pots and put everything else in the garden.

I can only imagine what it will look like in a couple of months; and you know I'll keep you posted!

Choked Up

The artichoke I have been watching is really starting to take shape.  I have been tempted to harvest it, but I'm going to give it a couple more days to make sure it's really mature.  The other artichoke in the garden is starting to form as well; though, I don't know if the cold weather will catch up to it before it is able to complete the process.  Time will tell.  These artichokes are such interesting creatures.

Hello there...

As I was scavenging the garden a couple of days ago, I happened to notice an artichoke plant developing a little artichoke in the middle of it's leaves.  This is the first change I have seen in the artichoke plants in over two months.  I was quite excited with this latest development.  I don't know if I will get anything edible, but it's nice to know our little artichoke endeavor wasn't a total failure.  Isn't gardening fun?  Just when I thought it was over, I get this little surprise.

The Last Hurrah?

For all intents and purposes, this looks to be my last substantial harvest.  All in all, it's been a good year for the garden.  The move to the back of the yard worked well, and we learned a lot with the new plants we tried.  The trick will be not to forget everything over the winter...

Cantaloupe

This summer, I tasted the most juicy, sweet, flavorful cantaloupe.  Even better, it came from my very own garden.  I never realized gardening could be so much fun, and so rewarding.  I'm already thinking about what I want to plant next year.  One thing is for sure, cantaloupe will be on the list!

Garden update

It's been a good year for our garden so far, as everything inside that tiny wooden fence is flourishing.  It's a lot to keep up with the constant changes, so I make a point to go out everyday and give it a nice inspection.  I usually go out there after I get home from work, and Ari and Emilie love to come out and look at the plants with me.

Our lettuce has been harvested for the year, and it was interesting to see how it matured.  We picked the leaves off as it grew for our evening salads, and then it just started growing up with little flowers spouting on top.  The artichokes haven't changed much in the last month, either, but I really don't know what to expect from them.  If anything, they have been a fun experiment.  All in all, though, everything else has done really well.

We have three large cantaloupes right now that look like they will need to be harvested and devoured soon.

The Wisconsin 55's are plentiful and flavorful, proving last year was no fluke.  The fresh tomato salsa, pasta sauce, and pizzas are in full swing, with plans for making my own ketchup in the works!

Speaking of salsa, these little jalapeno peppers have been a real treat.  They really gave the salsa nice kick, and I could definitely notice the freshness.  I also made a chimmichurri sauce with them to accompany grilled pork tenderloin.  Delicious!

More peppers!  One of our starter plants we bought after the frost scare was this macaroni pepper plant.  It has done really well, along with the cherry tomato plant (not pictured).  I am waiting for these peppers to turn red for a sweeter flavor.  What a productive month in the garden!

Brave the tomato plants!

I've been closely watching our cherry tomato plant as the little tomatoes slowly change to red, eagerly anticipating plucking them off one by one.  At last the day was here, and Ari picked the first tomatoes of the season! 

Our garden basically looks like a little vegetable jungle. It is apparent that I still have a few things to learn about how far apart to space out the plants, especially the tomatoes.  Nevertheless, there were tomato plants to be slain!

Undaunted, Ari plunged into the viney plant and snatched the first red tomato he saw!  He narrowly escaped the clutches of the artichoke plant to give his prized bounty to the fair maiden anxiously awaiting his return.

She gazed longingly at her cherished treasure, realizing that soon she would sink her teeth into its juicy flesh.

She held her prize in triumph knowing all will eat well this night!

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Melon

Our cantaloupe plant became so big that we had to direct it out of the garden and into the yard, which has made for quite a lawn mowing headache.  I had just been mowing around it for a while, but the grass was getting so tall around it, I had to give it a trim.  To my delight, as I was rustling through the vines, I found some small melons starting to take shape.  It was a fun and unexpected little garden discovery.

Garden Update

My frost fears in April are all a distant memory as my garden is thriving.  I'm still learning about how far to space the plants since what seemed like a lot of room at the time has quickly been erased by rapidly growing fruits and veggies.  I don't think anything is suffocating, though, and I am quite pleased with has things have turned out so far.

We have definitely been taking advantage of having fresh lettuce this year.  We have been picking mature leaves off the lettuce for about a month now, and they are still going strong.  We haven't had to buy lettuce for so long, and we have been eating salads with out dinner just about every night.  The lettuce us so crisp, fragrant, tender and flavorful.

We are also seeing an abundance of tomato blossoms on all of our tomato plants.  I enjoy seeing these beautiful yellow flowers dotting the sea of green because I know what will soon follow.

Tomatoes!  Along with the flowers, there are also quite a few tomatoes taking shape on the plants.  The plants seem to be a few weeks ahead of where they were last year.  If that means BLT season will start a little early this year, I will be a happy man.

One of the more ominous looking plants in our garden is the artichoke.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's sharp pointed leaves look more suited for Jurassic Park than a backyard garden.

I am so excited about the jalapeno plants, too!  I love these little peppers, and the bright little flowers were a welcome sight, especially since I thought they hadn't survived that frosty night.

Speaking of survival stories, our cantaloupe plant is also thriving.  So much so, in fact, I had to weave it's vines out of the garden and into the yard.  It has it's own pretty little yellow flowers to boast, and I am looking forward to the juicy sweet fruits it will soon produce.

Quite a change in month, if you ask me.  I can't wait to see what the end of July will bring!

Pumpkin flower

When we planted our pumpkins, I had no idea they would produce such beautiful flowers.  It caught me off guard one morning as I was walking to the garage to get my bike for my morning commute.  I glanced over to the yard and saw a magnificent yellow flower.  I made a mental note to take a picture of it when I got home.  Alas, when I arrived home from work that day, the flower was no longer there; it had shriveled away.

I soon realized that the pumpkin flower has a very short lifespan, often not even lasting for a day.  The next time I saw a flower I made sure to take a picture of it while it was there.  There have been many more flowers since those first few started opening up, and I always look for them as I walk to the garage in the mornings.  Seeing those vibrant yellow flowers greeting me first thing in the morning a nice way to start the day.

The Straggler

As I was pulling weeds around the blueberry bush the other day, I noticed a curious little plant that looked very familiar to me.  Upon closer inspection, I found that it wasn't a weed at all.  It was, in fact, a tomato plant!  Last year, I discarded some rotten tomatoes where this little fellow has taken root.  It is right by the fence post behind the blueberry bush so I will be able to keep it safe from the lawnmower and weed eater.  It is quite a bit smaller than the tomato plants in the garden, and it looks a little beaten up; but I have faith it will grow to produce fruit.  Besides, its a Wisconsin 55, so anything is possible!

Garden update

I've learned a lot about gardening in the last year.  The most important lesson I have learned is to not get anxious.  Two days after transplanting my plants outside we had a frost advisory.  The night of the advisory I covered the garden with two bed sheets and hoped for the best.  The next morning there was frost on the ground and I feared the worst.  Before work, I checked under the sheet and my plants seemed no worse for the wear.  My initial relief was short lived because of the next couple of days, some the plants withered and died. 

I was upset with myself.  I couldn't believe what had happened.  We had one of the warmest springs ever, and two days after I moved my plants outside, we had frost.  My garden was ruined and I had no one to blame but myself.  But, as the days went by, the plants that didn't die right away started to show signs of improvement.  They were growing, and they started to look healthier and healthier.  I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and give those tough little plants the support they needed.

About half the garden was damaged by the frost, so we decided to buy some starter plants to fill the void.  We bought a cherry tomato plant, a basil plant, and pepper plant at a local farmer's market and Valerie's mom gave us a couple of tomato plants she had started from seed.  We added these plants to the garden and it looks really nice.  I feel so much better about our garden, and all the plants are looking strong and healthy now.  Here's a look at the progress so far.

This little tomato plant has had the toughest time surviving the frost.  It couldn't stand up straight, so I tied it to a little stick I out in the ground to help support it.  Hopefully, this will give it the strength it needs.  It's doing pretty good so far.

All the carrots I planted survived the frost.  I planted some more seeds because I don't think this is going to be enough carrots.

All the lettuce I planted survived the frost, too, which surprised me.  It has done remarkably well, and we even used some in our salads last night.  Delicious!

This is our humble garden. 

Groundwork for the future

We got the ground ready for our expanded garden the other day and anticipate transporting our little seedlings outside in the next week or so. 

It was a little bittersweet digging up a patch of grass in the yard considering how hard we worked to get grass there in the first place.  For those of you who don't know, it's a long story.  Let's just say the person who lived in our house before us didn't like grass.  Digging up part of the yard did have an unexpected benefit, though.

We were able to transport the grass we removed to the spot where we had our tomatoes last year.  It looks really nice, and so far, it is holding up really well.  Oh, joyous me!