Cucumbers have become a staple of summer this year. When we were living in the city I would prefer to get the old fashioned thick-skinned kind, rather than lebanese or telegraph, as I think they have better flavour. So my choice from the seed catalogue for Spring was Green Gem cucumbers; an old standard, good for hot climates, and mildew resistant.
It hasn’t disappointed. The four or so plants I put in at the Mid-levels garden grew strongly and have given us a steady crop through January and February, with plenty to give away. And they are so delicious and crisp we don’t tire of them. They stood up fairly well to the constant wet weather, although the old leaves were lost to mildew. As Mum suggested, you can spray with milk to protect them, but the vines kept growing out of danger, and getting a spray gun down there with milk never happened.
I planted a new bed of them last week, hoping to get another crop in to Winter. They came up seemingly overnight (February seems to be a good month for sowing here). I’ll try a new growing system with these; they are between two bamboo ‘teepees’ for beans, and I will try running the vines up string suspended from a cross-beam. They are planted next to a fence too, so some will run along that.
Apple cucumbers will be a good variety to try next season, as they seem to be preferred here for disease resistance. I was buying beautiful ones from a roadside stall before mine came on. And I will start them early so I don’t waste the warm sunny days of September and October.