WHERE DID THAT HUGE CUCUMBER COME FROM?

I just found three huge cucumbers in my garden. I grow mine on a trellis and still can't spot them until they are the size of a baseball bat. I think I go blind when I go to the garden. I just found two overgrown eggplant and some peppers, that I swear were not there yesterday. I believe they hide when they see me coming. My onions are totally hidden. I can't find them anywhere. Do rabbits like onions?

I really do need to check the garden every day when it reaches this stage. Things just grow so fast and if you are not careful, they will get over ripe or just rot on the vines. So many of my tomatoes, especially the patio and grape, just died on the vine, because I didn't get around to picking them. My only excuse is the heat. It gets hot early here now and in the evening you have to fight the insects. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I will be planning my fall garden really soon now and will try to do better.

What to do with those overgrown cucumbers from Cooks.com:


RED HOT CUCUMBER PICKLES

2 gal. lg. cucumbers
2 c. pickling lime
Water
1 c. vinegar
1 tbsp. alum from drugstore
1 bottle red food coloring
2 c. vinegar
5 lbs. sugar
1 lg. pkg. red hot candy
8 cinnamon sticks

Peel, quarter and seed cucumbers. Need 2 gallons of cucumbers after peeling. Cut into strips about the size of French fries. Soak 24 hours in pickling lime with enough water to cover cucumbers. Drain and wash well.
Add 1 cup vinegar, alum, food coloring and enough water to cover. Simmer 2 hours and then drain well. Add 2 cups vinegar, 4 cups water, sugar, candy and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil. Remove from stove. Let sit 24 hours. Bring back to a boil. Remove from stove. Let sit another 24 hours. Bring to a boil. Put in hot sterilized jars. Makes 10-12 pints. This makes wonderful Christmas gifts.

EDIBLE LANDSCAPE & PATIO TOMATOES

Interest in patio vegetable gardens and edible landscapes is going through the roof. I knew this explosion was going on in Europe because of some of the garden blogs I read. I wondered if it would hit here, too. After the scare we are having with out tomatoes, lettuce and other veggies this year, it was just a matter of time. Big veggies like zucchini squash, acorn squash and Windsor pumpkins are being grown in large patio containers. Other containers, not so large, are filled with peppers, sweet ones and hot ones like Cheyenne. Although I have a garden, I also grow peppers and patio tomatoes in containers. You can grow lettuce in a bowl on your patio. Grow them in window boxes, hanging baskets, all kinds of ways to grow veggies. I mix flowers and veggies in my garden and in containers around the property.

Sales in vegetable seeds and transplants have taken off. Edible landscapes and small square-foot or intensive-type gardens like mine are gaining in popularity. Look for transplants at local garden centers as well as seeds for some quick sow-grow-and-harvest products like cilantro, that key ingredient for salsa and fajitas, ( I love fajitas) or basil for Italian pesto sauce. I am growing two types of basil this year. One I grow alongside my tomatoe plants, since it is talior made to go with tomatoes and the other I use in pork dishes. I grow it on my back porch in a container. It is stronger than the other one so it is good with pork.

There is a new eggplant out this year , SLIM JIM, that I am trying to locate... It can be used as the thriller plant (see another post for this) in a mixed container. I can also plant it in my Lantana bed with my yellow and orange flowers. I think it will be a winning combination -- plus, I will be eating eggplant parmesan which is one of my favoirte dishes.