Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Spring is Almost Here!

I know, it is hard to believe that Spring is almost here.  As I type this the white stuff is flying in the sky.  In a few short weeks I will be starting me seeds for my garden and I thought I would add a couple of tips that I have found helpful.

This first tip I found on Pinterest (are you on Pinterest?  It is addicting...)


www.gardeners.com

Last year we had a problem with our cucumbers going everywhere.  So this year we are planning to trellis them.  The trellis pictures is (/was) available for purchase through the link above.  I will have my husband build these for me and they will be collapsible for easy storage.

To grow your plants on a trellis you will need to teach them.  Start by placing the vines on chicken wire and if they fall place them again.  Eventually they will grab on and grow.

Underneath the cucumbers you will want to plant something that likes cooler temperatures and shade.  Lettuce or spinach would be great.  This will give you twice as much produce for a smaller space and both plants will be happier.

The trellis will also help to keep your cucumbers firm and bug/slug free.

Happy Gardening!
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5 comments:

  1. AmberFebruary 20, 2013 at 8:40 AM

    Hi Heather! Last year we had a big issue with cucumber beetles and they pretty much destroyed most of our cucumber plants. Do you think something like this trellis will also help to reduce the number of those? Thank you!

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    1. HeatherFebruary 20, 2013 at 9:01 AM

      Amber,
      We had a problem with beetles last year as well. I am not sure where you live, but last year New York had a warmer than overage winter. Because of the warmer weather, a lot of bugs didn't die back. I don't believe that the trellis system will help with beetles. When you have a beetle problem your best bet is to pick off all of the beetles that you see and dispose of them. I know a lot of times people will buy beetle traps, but from what I am told they are counterproductive. The beetles do end up in the trap, but the traps also can attract more beetles from up to several hundred feet away. Another option is to make a homemade organic pesticide from all food products. I will post this recipe soon. It is very easy to make. You just put all of your ingredients in a blender and mix away, then allow to rest for a couple of days and spray on plants.

      I will also do some research to see if there are any plants that beetles don’t like. I know they love my roses too.

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    2. AmberFebruary 20, 2013 at 11:12 AM

      It's Amber VanNostrand.. We live in Genoa. I tried for awhile to pick them all off but we had 10 cucumber plants and they were just full of them. As soon as I picked them off of one plant and went to the next, they would go back to the one I already cleaned. It was a pain so I'm trying to think of ways to avoid that this year. I'm new to gardnening, so last year was quite a bit of trial and error. :) Thank you for the information though! I look forward to your future posts!

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    3. HeatherFebruary 20, 2013 at 12:22 PM

      I didn't realize that was you :-) Thank you for reading my blog! I am hoping that the bugs will be better this year. Do you know if anyone around you has those little beetle catcher things? Maybe they are attracting more.

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  2. AmberMarch 7, 2013 at 1:27 PM

    Oops! Sorry.. I'm just reading this now! Thank you for getting back to me. We actually live right across the road from the Organic Farm on Route 90. I'm wondering if they would possibly have these catcher things. I guess that makes sense now! I'll have to look into some other options for this year because I like my pickles and wasn't able to can that many last year! :)

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