I finally got some nicely sized cucumbers!! This was after a weekend heat wave so it was about 3 days to grow to these sizes. We cut into the top of one to taste and they weren’t that overly watery version from a grocery store. There was a concentration of cucumber flavor and I can now see why people use them in dishes with bolder spices.
When it came time to pickling, I had two options – flavoring packet I purchased from our favorite farmer’s market called Wilson Farm or a basic pickling recipe from P. Allen Smith (2015) on Homesteading 101. This day I chose the former but with the next batch I’m going to try the recipe, which you can review below the pictures.
Freshly picked cucumbers 
My first pickling ever 
A nice batch on its way in a few days
The tomato bed needed a bit of weeding, the marigolds trimmed of dead or dying flowers, and I needed to tie up some of the tomatoes. I want to get some of those 10′ tall wooden stakes because the dowels aren’t cutting it. Below is a wonderful video from The University of Maine (2011) about staking your tomatoes. I wanted to post it as there are some very helpful hints on which varieties need staking and how to tie them to the stake. I also picked my first tomato today – sunset cherry tomato! It has a tart but sweet flavor that goes very well with some smoked mozzarella. Still waiting on that beefsteak tomato…
Tomato bed all cleaned up 
Marigolds protecting my tomatoes 
More tomatoes coming in 
My first tomato of the year, a sunset tomato 
Still waiting on my beefsteak
As for the rest of the garden, our tomatillo is growing and has a lot of amazing flowers showing. The lemongrass and citron I use to repel mosquitoes look very healthy. Lastly is my parsley, oregano, and very beautiful celery. I love using the leaves of celery in my salads or to season other items and I’m looking forward to using them soon.
Tomatillo plant 
Citron and lemongrass 
Left-to-right:
parsley, oregano, celery
Jenn's Garden 