Cucumbers are out for this year

We planted a huge patch of cucumbers, hoping to use them both for hog feed and for pickling. But, things didnt work out in either case.

First, the heat wave we just had turned all the cucumbers bitter. The heat reached close to 110 for a few days in a row and the plants got stressed.  This is often a non-recoverable condition with cucumbers. Once bitter, always bitter.  So we cant plan on any cukes for pickling this year.

Second, we decided cucumbers for hog feed dont make sense. It takes way too long to harvest these for the amount you get, when compared to squash and beets.  Plus, the nutritional value of cucumbers is below that of most other garden vegetables. So for lower nutrition for more labor.. doesnt make sense.

We are making the best of it.. by letting the cucumbers get ripe, then pulling the entire plant to be used for hog feed. They love it!  We pull one row at a time and have enough vines / ripe cukes to feed for a day.

Making the best of it!