Cucumbers In An EarthBox®

I mentioned earlier this year that Mom had given her EarthBox® to me and that I was going to grow cucumbers in it.  Previous attempts at growing cucumbers had not yielded very good results so I thought I'd give this EarthBox® thing a go with them.

For the past week, we've enjoyed a great harvest of Chelsea English Cucumbers planted from seed from Renee's Garden Seeds.  I got them planted a little late this spring, but the vines are now growing along the ground, after climbing the trellis of the EarthBox®.  They get morning and mid-day sun and are shaded by mid-afternoon on.

With the EarthBox®, you just need to make sure the water reservoir never goes dry, and with the hot and dry weather we've been having, I find that I need to fill it once a day.  I'm amazed at what healthy plants I've got. Never before have my cucumber vines looked so good!

The vines are loaded with cucumbers, too...

For the first time, I'm going to try pickling these cucumbers. We both like them fresh, but I want to try pickling them, too, so I'll be using this recipe for refrigerator sweet pickles:

SWEET REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

12 to 14 cucumbers, cut in pieces
2 tbsp. canning salt
2 lg. onions

 

Mix salt with cucumbers and onions; let stand 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

 

Brine:

3 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. vinegar

Mix sugar and vinegar until sugar dissolves; drain pickles well and put into jars. Cover with brine. Put in refrigerator and let stand 2 weeks before using. Good for 6 months.

 

By the way, you can use regular salt, but the liquid in your pickles will be cloudy, due to the anti-caking ingredient that's used in regular table salt.  Also, canning salt contains no iodine.