Lots of Cukes

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks, but I've been so busy gardening and end of school activities. Summer is definitely here with temperatures in the low 90's and very humid. I'm watering more with the hose pipe which I'm not overly thrilled doing since I've seen my last water bill. It's gone up almost $10 more than usual. We are getting rain, but not daily and it's usually a good shower that will keep my plants watered for a couple of days. We are only getting maybe one to two good soaks per week. I do plan on installing a rain barrel which will help.

In the above pictures you can see how many tasty cucumbers I've picked. I started picking them around the middle of May, and haven't stopped yet. I have picked well over 50 cukes in the last 3 weeks so those two vines are very prolific. I tried my hand at pickling them last weekend, and that batch came out very well. I'm going to make a double batch this weekend, and will share the process on my blog with pictures plus the actual recipe. I even shared them with a couple of family members that were very eager to try them. I am also going to make several loaves of zucchini bread which I also share on my blog.

I also wanted to update on my Roma tomatoes which aren't doing as well as hoped. I had an infestation from caterpillars to stink bugs. I was trying not to use pesticides but I did spray them last weekend with Seven which has helped some. I think I didn't act quickly enough so most of the fruit is damaged with holes and rotten. I have harvested about 30, but lost that many to bugs. I'm disappointed since I really wanted to make a big batch of tomato sauce. I'm still going to experiment with a small batch soon. My cantaloupe plants are flowering and really trying to vine out along with the watermelon plants. I will hopefully post some pictures this weekend. I'm very excited about how well the garden is doing overall, and we did expand it with a cultivator my step-dad lent me. I have zucchini to plant this weekend. I hope none of my readers mind the posts about my garden. It's a great way to save lots of money by growing your own food and to share with others.