My first year in the garden, I harvested five cukes before the plant got mildew and died.

The second year, I planted cucumber seeds in a patio pot. They sprouted and bloomed, then I forgot to water. By July, a mercy killing was in order.

This year, I am determined to break my cucumber curse and turn my garden into a cornucopia of cukes. I started my seeds indoors and saved sunny spot (usually reserved for tomatoes and peppers) for my seedlings. I also bought a trellis to keep the fruit off the ground — and the squirrels from stealing.

Soon, the leaves grew big and green. Yellow flowers blossomed on the vine. I ate my very first cuke in the beginning of July.

Now, we get two or three a week. Some are straight, but others have these curious curved tails.

At first, I blamed the heat wave for my misshapen fruit, but now I suspect something a little more sinister… Is this a pollination problem? A watering issue? Or has my cucumber curse returned?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 9:45 am and is filed under Cucumbers + Melons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.