Surprised by cukes!

I mostly lurk on this group because I don't have a veggie garden. Our lot's shaded, our soil's the pits, the city water is salty, and everything poops out in the hot, dry Central Texas summers when it's no fun to be outside. (end of whine)

Imagine my suprise, then to discover three tiny cucumbers! The vine grew out of my compost heap and has festooned the outside of the compost cage all summer. I never figured it would bloom and just thought I'd be pitching it into the heap at the end of the season. Well, the silly thing has flowered, the local bees have been obliging, and if there's no early frost this year I may have my very own cukes. I'm so excited!

Monique Reed College Station, TX

Reply to
Monique Reed
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Volunteers can often spice up garden life. The fruit mature fast--but if a real hard frost is due they can be harvested at any size and used. An old, blanket, tarp or plastic sheet can protect from a light frost but probably not a heavy one.

Reply to
Frankhartx

Great!

But you can cope with the rest too, unless your ENTIRE lot is shaded solid. Even at that, if the shade is dappled, you can probably grow the green leafy veggies: spinach, chard, Asian greens, and some herbs.

You can garden in spring and fall - probably even winter - when the weather's cooler, and you can garden in 'grow-boxes' or 'tire-planters' or containers of some sort and make your own soil: fill the containers with a mixture of (purchased) Pro-Mix and top soil, or mushroom compost, or whatever you can find.

Pat

-- To email me, remove the obvious word, and type my first name in its place. "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

Reply to
spamtrap

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