Cucumbers are among the most widely grown vegetables in home gardens across the country and are coming into their prime as July gives way to August. Some don’t require pollination for fruit production, though there is still a place in the garden for heirloom varieties. (ANN BENNETT PHOTO)
Plant research in recent decades has led to the development of remarkably productive varieties, many of them particularly suited to growing in hoop houses. ( ANN BENNETT PHOTOS)
Cucumbers are among the most widely grown vegetables in home gardens across the country and are coming into their prime as July gives way to August. Some don’t require pollination for fruit production, though there is still a place in the garden for heirloom varieties. (ANN BENNETT PHOTO)
Cucumbers are easy to grow but they are plagued by cucumber beetles, though damage can be minimized with the use of row covers. (ANN BENNETT PHOTO)
Plant research in recent decades has led to the development of remarkably productive varieties, many of them particularly suited to growing in hoop houses. ( ANN BENNETT PHOTOS)
Summer at last, or so it seems. The week has delivered a succession of hot, sunny days, with intermittent showers to fuel rapid progress in the garden. The constant deluge has receded in the final days of the month, though there is still standing water in local farm fields, evidence of the 7.06 inches of rain recorded by local weather observer Ed Bergeron through the 23rd. That figure is almost twice the monthly mean for July, but still shy of the record of 9.14 set in 2006.
In the meantime, the first local corn is finally available, and it is raspberry season — I spend several hours a day at this point picking summer’s premier fruit. Beans, squash and new potatoes grace the table, and early cucumbers. One of my favorite crops, cukes are among the most widely grown occupants of home gardens, with hundreds of varieties available from seed companies across the globe. In terms of commercial production, Florida leads the pack for slicing varieties, while Wisconsin is the top grower of pickling cucumbers in the U.S.
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