Saving Seeds, Part V Cucumbers

Alright, don't lie, who doesn't like a good Cuke every once in a while...That is unless it gives you gas! UGH! To dedicate the who cucumber post I am going to be posting my very first video! *Round of Applause* The basic gist of this movie is about how organic foods are better for you in a commical way with a little Star Wars twist! I found this really funny when I saw it on "The Thoughtful Vegan" blog site! The quality of the movie is also great. So without further adue. . .




Now for the seriousness of the matter. Cucumbers are such a fun plant to grow! There are all different shapes, sizes, and colors! The most recent variety that I have grown is an heirloom variety called Lemon Cucumber Cucumis sativus. This is such a fun variety that has interest too, so if you have kids or grandkids, this is something you might want to try to get them interested in the art of gardening!
If you are going to start harvesting seeds from a cucumber you have to make one sacrifice, one that is very hard to do. . .
I don't know if I can say it. . .
No I must say it. . .
Ok here it goes. . .
You have to let it get WAY over ripe! I know it is hard to believe it but it is true. I know that each time I tried to harvest seeds any other way, they were always too unripe! So be sure that you have some really, really ripe cukes!
When you cut it, make sure you cut it horizontal to were the stem was, or if that was hard to understand, cut it like you would cut a grapefruit! Don't cut it the way I cut it in the picture. I must of got carried away, because I cut it the wrong way! This will insure that you do not cut any seeds in half. With a spoon scoop out all of the seeds in the same way you would with a melon.
or anything, the onlyNow cucumber are easy when it comes to seeds, as that you don't have to wash them thing you have to do is let them dry on a paper towel in a room full of air circulation.
Once the seeds are done they should be, plump and firm like the ones that you would plant.

Read More

I Have a Problem

Ok, I don't know if you have any problems with your garden, but I do! Here recently I have been having the largest problem with cucumber beetles, which means that I was pulling my hair out by the hands full...I eventually stopped since I was afraid I might go prematurely bald! Cucumber beetles are about 1/4 in. long with three black stripes on there backs filled with yellow in between. I had dueled with these menacing creatures before when I had planted green beens, lets just say I have never planted them since, I lost! The cucumber beetles had just come and eaten then all the leaves and all of the green beens where wasted since they could not be eaten due to the fact that they had little brown dots all over them from where they had bitten them. To this day green beens have not graced my garden since. Maybe someday I will be brave enough to plant them again.
Thank God that I have a mother who knows so many things that it would blow the mind of any person on the face of this earth, and she had read that NEEM OIL is the cure all for ant critter, bug, or anything that you do not in your garden to live. Since I am an organic gardener I was not going to use Seven on my plants, so instead I mixed some neem oil into a container with some water, and into that I added some tobacco (this is the only reason it is in our house to begin with!) WOW! If that wont kill something I don't know what will! At first I didn't think anything would happen to those beetles since I was seeing their eggs all over the leaves of the squash!
You see I had planted some squash, some spaghetti squash, and I just love home made spaghetti squash spaghetti...YUM!!! I was really looking forward to eating that spaghetti and knowing that it came right form the garden; I had even gone so far as to start my seeds from scratch, nurturing them all the way, and now come to find out that they were infested with these tiny beetles! Eventually ( 2 weeks) later I start to notice that there are not as many of them on my squash blossoms! I was ecstatic, all my dreams and aspirations had come true, it was a miracle!
After my battle with the beetles, I had come to find out that the reason not a single squash was growing was because my plants were not producing any female flowers, only male flowers were being produced! So all this time I was pollinating my plants was for nothing! I was considering buying a toupe so that I could resume pulling my hair out.
I had decided to go to canoing camp and leave all my troubles behind for the moment, ignorance is bliss, right! Well, it was until I came back, when I returned all of my spaghetti squash had wilt! I was so upset that I pulled out ever squash plant that even had a name that sounded like Italian cuisine.
When all of this was said and done I took some scrap plant material (not from the squash mind you) and threw it into the compost pile, only to find a squash plant growing, no, flourishing from a tiny seed that had been thrown away last year to be composted! On this miracle of a plant was once little baby female flower! So at least all my time and effort has not been wasted for nothing. Maybe next year I will just throw all of my seeds into the compost pile and see if they grow instead, well you cant blame me for thinking about it!

Read More