CUCUMBER BED FINISHED

Saturday morning bright and early I was at Northwood Lumber to pick up my order. These were the cedar 2x4s I needed to complete the cucumber bed. Edward had called and we arranged our pick up time and location. Because of COVID-19 the public cannot enter the mill, but right on time Edward brought my order out. Fast, Efficient, Dependable.

First job was to line the bed with landscape fabric then fill the bottom with rotten stumps, limbs and branches. These will supply the bed with vital nutrients as they decay and also help to hold moisture so we can reduce the watering cycle.

I then scooped up a bucket of rough compost to cover the logs. This too has a lot of matter that will decompose over the next year.

This we compressed with our weight and we know there will be further settling as time goes by. That's perfect, as we want to add a topping of homemade compost each year before planting.

Bags of potting soil completed the process and then Mary was ready to plant. Note the protective clothing as the blackflies are at their worst this week.

Mary selected plants from the tray she started a month ago. Those black smudges you see across the middle of the photo are just a few of the thousands of blackflies swarming us as we worked. Fortunately they only last from Mothers' Day to Fathers' Day. Glad those two celebrations are not further apart.

Mary then suspended strings for each cucumber plant to climb as it grows. These were anchored by tucking them under the roots as the plants went into the soil.

Now we need to wrap the bed in plastic to creat a warm environment for the cucumbers. They prefer heat and moisture for optimal growth.

Yesterday we had our first radishes from our gardens. So far this season we've enjoyed: spinach, asparagus, lettuce, pea shoots, rhubarb and chives all growing just steps from our back door. This morning (Monday) Mary enjoyed her first fig of the season, grown indoors on her fig tree.

I'll post more pictures as we harvest throughout the summer.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe and healthy everyone.