Cukes anyone?

[jal_ut]

A pic from last summer. This is what you get when you plant a 33 foot row of Marketmore 76 Cukes. I was suffering from the winter doldrums when I stumbled upon this pic and it cheered me up. Hope it gives you a lift too. Spring is coming....................

[gumbo2176]

A pic from last summer. This is what you get when you plant a 33 foot row of Marketmore 76 Cukes. I was suffering from the winter doldrums when I stumbled upon this pic and it cheered me up. Hope it gives you a lift too. Spring is coming....................

Surely you are selling a lot of what your garden produces. I mean, I love cucumbers as much as anyone but I'd be hard pressed to even give them away to family, neighbors and friends in that quantity.

That reminds me of the time I had a huge mirliton vine (chayotes) to the rest of the world outside Louisiana. I was harvesting tons of them and giving them to everyone I knew. It wasn't long before they said enough is enough.

[Richard L.]

I had three vines last Summer and had more cucumbers then we could eat. Gave a lot away to friends... What do you do with the vegetables you grow?

[jal_ut]

Yes, I like pickles. For the pickles I pick those 3 to 5 inches long. To get enough of those smaller ones to do a batch of pickles, it takes a lot of vines. So when I get the pickles I want, I get loads of slicers. Like others have said, I give them away, and also sell some at the Farmer's Market. What is left goes to the food pantry.

I do sell some things at the Farmers Market, however making money on my garden is not my primary goal. The small town market here is more a social event than a money maker. It does give me enough to buy seed and fuel.

[jal_ut]

What do you do with the vegetables you grow?

I answered this question regarding cukes, but you asked about vegetables. I could go on a bit I guess...................... If you can stand my rambling.

I had a large family. The garden fed us pretty much. Now there is just the wife and I, but I still grow a garden. Not quite as much as when the kids were home, but a good sized garden. The kids still drop by and carry some off.

Eat lots fresh from the garden! Yes, this is the best part.

Berries and fruits: Some are bottled and some are frozen. We sometimes dry fruit too. I still have a bunch of apples in the extra fridg in the garage. They will keep quite a while at 40 degs.

Corn: We have bottled some using a pressure cooker, but prefer frozen cut off the cob corn. I dried some one year, but didn't like it.

Green beans: Bottled using a pressure cooker.

Onions: Dried whole and stored in mesh bags. They will last all winter. We have dried some slices at times. Put the dehydrator outside.

Winter squash: Just storing them in the garage. Some will keep until spring.

Potatoes: Kept a few in the garage for usage in November and December. Those won't keep much longer than that in the garage. I put some in a pit for usage when I get up enough ambition to go dig some up. I need some now, but the weather is awful for that chore. They will keep until spring there in the pit

Carrots: We have bottled sliced carrots. Mostly just eat them fresh. They will keep in the fridg for a long time. They keep all winter in my pit. When I dig up some taters I will get some carrots too.

Turnips: I put some in the pit. We eat them in season, fresh raw or cooked.

Beets: Pickled or bottled with the pressure canner. I store some in the pit.

Cabbage: It will store a long time in the fridg. It will also keep over winter in the pit. I wrap it in newspaper. We have made and bottled sauerkraut.

Greens of all kinds: Just eat them fresh.

Asparagus: It could be bottled, but we have never done that. Just eat it fresh.

Tomatoes: Tomato juice bottled. Salsa bottled.

I guess that sums up the major crops. I don't think a day goes by that we don't eat something from the garden. Besides the veggie part we have apples, plums, apricots, strawberries, currants, raspberries, and grapes.

It certainly must make a big dent in the grocery bill?

As with the cukes, use it, give it away, sell it at market or it goes to the food pantry.

[Richard L.]

Whoa! you do keep yourself busy in the garden, good for you, way better to be doing something then to sit around doing nothing.

I know with my small vegetable garden I give away a lot. We eat a lot of vegetables over the Summer then when Winter comes we still are eating frozen green beans, winter squash & etc. A lot of the tomatos we freeze & later on use in chili & spaghetti. Can't wait to plant this spring.

[Intriguedbybonsai]

And what a large, and beautiful backyard you have! So this is Utah huh? Amazing.

I love cucumbers. My favorite veggie by far. I love to slice them up, add a little salt, pepper, and let them marinate in apple cider vinegar.

[gumbo2176]

And what a large, and beautiful backyard you have! So this is Utah huh? Amazing.

I love cucumbers. My favorite veggie by far. I love to slice them up, add a little salt, pepper, and let them marinate in apple cider vinegar.

Try this sometime if you are so inclined. Take a clove of garlic and mince it fine, add a teaspoon or so of salt on top if it and use the side of your chef's knife to make a paste with the garlic and salt. Slice your cucumbers and add a tomato or two cut up in bite size pieces. Then add your vinegar and other seasonings and let that sit for a couple hours in the fridge. This has a good bit of pep in the taste.

Just don't do it if you have a meeting and you want to impress folks. That garlic can sometimes seep out of every pore in your body.

[jal_ut]

This is where I live. A rural community nestled down in the valley. This is an autumn picture.

[!potatoes!]

you know, i've been to paradise, utah once...a friend and i wrote a song about it, too.

[dustyrivergardens]

And I thought I was overloaded with cucumbers I only had an 8 foot row of Marketmore 76 goodness that is a ton of cucumbers.lol

[dustyrivergardens]

I have grown Marketmore 76 for years they are just a good cucumber. Some of my friends have lots of good luck with Straight 8 but I stick with whats been working for me.

[Intriguedbybonsai]

Though I don't use garlic too much in my cooking I'll have to try that recipe sometime, Gumbo.

Btw, my cucumber seeds have really taken off. I have them growing in a seed cell kit. Already a week has gone by, and I now have a few seedlings with leaves. I had no idea these guys grew so fast. Same results with my squash and watermelon.

[jal_ut]

I have grown Straight Eight and other varieties, but keep coming back to Marketmore. They just do it for me as you can see. I will plant them again this season plus some Armenians and some kind of burpless. I might even toss in a Lemon.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I have a catalog that offers Marketmore 97. Any big difference?

Eric

[jal_ut]

I think you will find quite a difference in the price of the seed.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Marketmore 97
4 gram packet ( 100-120 seeds) Territorial Seed co. $8.05 ( $9.15 OG )

Marketmore 76
Packet (30 seeds) Johnny's Selected Seeds $3.45 x 4 = $13.80
or 500 seeds @ $3.95 or 1000 seeds @ $4.95 or 5000 @ $13.95

but I was really asking, any cultural deferences in the two?

Eric

[jal_ut]

but I was really asking, any cultural deferences in the two?

I have never grown the 97. I doubt if there is much difference, from what I could find on them. Maybe a little more disease resistant? Do you ever have any diseases bother cucumbers? I don't have many problems here due to the low humidity and cold winters.

[t92k]

jal, when you plant in rows how far apart do you space the plants? I grew Marketmore 76 last year and did them in hills with 3 plants in each hill and 3 feet between hills. We got a decent harvest considering a woodchuck ate the tops of them when they were small. They recovered from that and we started to get cucs. Then tropical storm Irene hit and after that the leaves wilted and the plants died.

This year I'm planning on 2 12' rows trellised with 3' between the rows. Not sure how far apart I should space each plant.

[jal_ut]

I plant a seed every 8 inches in a row. If you are going to trellis them, rows 3 feet apart would work OK. If you are going to let them sprawl, rows 5 to 6 feet apart. The vines will get 4 to 6 feet long.

Another planting plan for cukes is to plant in hills with 5 or 6 seeds to a hill and hills spaced 6 feet apart. Just let them sprawl. This takes a bit more space than growing them on a trellis.

I prefer to plant a single row with seed spaced 8 inches and let them sprawl. Cucumbers are the last thing I plant here usually. The ground and the weather needs to be warm for good success. June 1 works here.