I wouldn't mind but I never even used to like cucumber all that much. It always reminded me of the thin curled up sandwiches that were always left untouched at childrens parties. Then a couple of years ago my neighbour gave me a plant and I discovered how truly fragrant and tasty a real, homegrown cucumber can be. Last year we planted just 2 seeds and from those we grew two strong and healthy, rapid fruit producing plants. It was so easy. So what's going on this year? Twice now we have sown cucumber seeds and from this we have only had a success rate of 1. To rub salt into the wound, even this success was short lived. Long and tall and lanky it grew. It didn't look a healthy specimen at all. Mr Notebook even went to the trouble of making it a small wire support (like those usually twisted around gerberas! I kid you not!) in a last ditched attempt to save our one successful seedling. This morning's visit to the greenhouse finds the seedling has given up all hope and lays keeled over in a small and sorrowful heap.
On the positive side, things are looking up for my sweet peas. I have been very brave this year and have been quite brutal in my pinching out technique. This seems to have worked and the plants are starting to look quite stocky and strong. I followed the advice from this Sarah Raven video in which she shows how to pinch out and explains how sweet peas need to be rugby players and not atheletes. I like to think I now have rugby players not atheletes growing in my greenhouse! Even if I'm not eating cucumbers or courgettes this summer I should have some lovely sweet peas to sit and look at!
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