by Gene Henson

Cucumber is another popular fruit (yup, you read that right) that can be seen in most Kitchen Gardens. Because it’s a traveling vine, it doesn’t lend itself to well to raised beds. No matter which variety you grow, it rambles through the garden and sometimes, they hide beneath the leaves. 

Like many of our modern fruits and veggies, cucumbers originated in southern Asia some 10,000 years ago. They were brought to Europe and  their juices, which are rich in silica, soon became popular as a skin lotion. The early colonists brought them to the America where we continue to enjoy them today.

There are two popular cucumbers grown in this country: slicing, and  pickling. While any cucumber  may be  pickled, the gherkin is the most  popular for that and is thought to have been developed from an African variety, which was brought home by  ancient Greek mariners, whereupon they spread throughout Europe. There is no known date for when the pickling process was developed, although it is It is known that Roman emperors enjoyed pickles. 

I like to grow my cukes on a trellis. There are many advantages to doing this, not the least of which is that deformed cucumbers are a thing of the past. Also, with the vine off the ground,  many of the pests usually associated with cucumbers have a hard time getting to them. Other problems can be aphids, and the Western spotted and Western striped cucumber beetle, which chomp on the leaf, stem and root. For small gardens, hand picking for these is the easiest way to control them.

Trellises can be bought for around thirty bucks, but being a Swamp Yankee, I prefer to build my own out of stuff I already have at hand. Mine are made from cattle fencing, the same material used for the string bean trellis, but with one big difference. It’s laid over to about a fifty degree angle so that the cucumbers will fall through the openings in the wire, allowing the gardener, that’s us, to readily see how they are doing. I have an abundance of concrete blocks, so they are pressed into use as the support. Next, some 4X4 posts I had lying around are laid against the stacked cement blocks, which are 5 high. Two 2×6 boards span the three stacks of block, and the cattle wire is laid on top. The wire is stapled to the boards, and there you have it. Black plastic is placed under the wire for weed control, and to warm up the developing crop. There is also the option of planting lettuce under there, which will be shaded by the growing cucumber vines as they crawl there way up the wire.

This trellising method works pretty good for Zucchini squash, too. If you can see the crop developing under the wire, you will never want to go back to growing vining crops the traditional way. I can’t count how many times have I missed a  cucumber that was hiding in the garden before using this method to support them.

Gene Henson is a University of Connecticut certified Advanced Master Gardner.

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