Last summer we did not have any good harvest of cucumbers, although we had many plants. I tried growing them in different part of the veggie patch around the house to observe which environment was good for growing cucumbers at our place. But we only harvested about 3 cucumbers last season. We also did hand pollination but did not succeed. I suspect it was either the variety I am growing not suitable for the climate here or the soil. Last summer was really hot and many heat waves. We grown only the ‘White Spine’ cucumber variety. This year I decided to grow ‘White Spine’ (last year left-over seeds), Crystal Apple (Phoenix seeds) and Green Gem (Eden seeds) cucumber variety. For this year I decided to try grow cucumber in polystyrene box with our own designed trellis for it to climb and can give good air circulation. We direct sow ‘Green Gem’ cucumber seeds and “Topweight’ carrot seeds in this container box in early October.
Look promising and buddy buddy these two.
The cucumber plants has start climbing the home-made trellis from branches we collected from the drive through Adelaide Hills route. Carrots also growing nicely where it has more longer leafy tops.
There are five cucumber plants in this container and it has produced male and female flowers. The soil depth is about 20cm.
Cool cucumber good to cool down the body when the temperature tomorrow is forecasted to be about 43 degree Celcius. We have already harvested at least 5 cucumbers from this container and that is more than previous summer! There are many baby cucumbers growing from plants in this container. Hopefully it will produce MORE MORE MORE before it times is up. I just sow a batch of “Green Gem’ cucumber this week in polystyrene container since we got a good harvest from this attempt.
It is also the time to thin carrot from this container. Nice surpise that the carrot thinnings looks juicy to eat. Carrot and cucumber can be good companion.
From this vegetables combination I made Vietnamese Roll.
Great harvest from this small container! I envy!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great idea! Well done on your harvest.
ReplyDeleteIt will be hot up here for the next few days too!
I hope 2011 will be a productive year in both your garden and your life.
I trust the weather will behave itself for you and not present too many (more) extremes!!
All the best
Scarecrow
What a lovely reminder of what's to come! I loved your pictures...and I would love to have a garden this year. Just a tiny one would make me happy. Those carrots are beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteMona
Your container gardening gardening seem very fruitful. I usually add many packets of soil onto the clay soil we have. It doesn't seem as effective but red okra seem to be doing well. I'm going to harvest them now.
ReplyDeletecm sangat tertarik dgn enak anak carrot tu:)Biji benih yang cm tanam telah tumbuh tapi tersangat kecik.Rasa seperti tidak dapat bertahan lama.Teramat amat amat amat lah kecil:(
ReplyDeleteThose carrots are beautiful, and must be very tasty as well.
ReplyDeleteWow, fresh carrots. I've tried planting carrots but it wasn't a success. Your cucumber looking good and healthy.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great harvest! so good.
ReplyDeleteI am sure they will continue to give out a lot more.
A success Diana - by the way what does hot feel like? We are due for another cold blast!
ReplyDeleteThat's great, your carrots look really good I guess those two do make great companion plants. I will try to remember this for our summer garden.
ReplyDeleteI like your homemade trellis! Looks like you'll have a successful harvest this year. I grew a Japanese Long variety last year that did very well. One thing I learned is that cucumber seedlings don't like to be moved. Almost all the seedlings I had to uproot failed. This time I will direct sow!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful carrots too!
It is so nice to see photos of a growing garden! We are under two feet of snow right now and your post makes me dream of spring! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Milka~ Thank you. They said carrot is good for the eyes. 'Topweight' or 'New Kuroda' might be suitable for Malaysia climate as it is heat tolerant.
ReplyDeleteScarecrow~ Yes I think we have to be careful with the heat this week. My sweetcorn leaves were burned to crisp yesterday and I feel a bit sad because I am waiting for the cobs to ripen.
Wsprsweetly Of Cottages ~ I hope you have your litte garden when Spring arrived at your place.
One~ How about keeping your kitchen waste and grass clipping to dig in to your clay soil and adding gypsum on it. This has reward me with better soil after a year. I don't need to use more energy to dig in hard compact soil like before now. Had to call my hubby to help dig in before but now I can manage myself:).
CikManggis~ Mula-mula kecik nanti besarlah carrot tu:). Kekadang nampak macam tak boleh hidup tapi nanti dapat kejutan besar.
Rainfield61~ It was very tasty not the bland taste of supermarket bought ones.
Eden~ Try to sow different variety of carrot and different seasons to see which one suits your place better. I have some variety which does not suit my place as well.
Fer~ Yes, I hope they will produce more but this week they have to be strong against more than 40 degree Celcius continuously in the day.
Sue~ Open the tap water and its boiling hot! My sweetcorn leaves were burn to crisp yesterday. Can't walk with barefeet which I like to do sometimes at the backyard.
Mr. H~ With both of this vegetable growing on the same place, you might have more space to sow for your chicken food crop.
JGH~ Yes, I think you are right that direct sowing yield better harvest. I will like to have a go with the Japanese Long variety too but the seed company I usually put in my order does not have that variety.
Pat~Wow thats a lot of snow.
Hehe you still remember my eyes! My daughter loves carrot but not me, i like how the plant looks like only haha. Bought a pack of seeds but never sowed yet, not confident the seeds will germinate so just put aside first until the mood comes. Thanks for your concern about my eyes!... but i like carrot juice :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!! To you and your family, good health and a bleesed year ahead!!
Good job on the cucumbers and carrots... they must have tasted very crunchy and sweet... happy gardening and happy new year...
ReplyDeleteMilka~ Your daughter will be excited to see carrots growing in your backyard.
ReplyDeleteLrong~ I feel blessed everyday since I can now harvest them everyday fresh from the garden. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment that I can follow you back and get to know a Malaysian gardening in Japan.
Hi; Thanks for visiting my blog - I see now that your cucumber-growing arrangement, with the polystyrene box and the home-made wooden trellis is very much like what I did last year. As I wrote, I intend to do things a bit more scientifically in 2011, to see if I can get an even better crop. As you point out, home-grown produce is just so much nicer than anything you can buy in a supermarket.
ReplyDelete