End of the Cucumber Season?

 

Cucumbers and Tomatoes picked on 10th November

A busy day in the polytunnel picking the last of the cucumbers and tomatoes. While the weather is still mild, it is a good time for clearing out the polytunnel and preparing it for next season.

The first cucumbers were picked on the 20th June, some five and a half months ago. My four plants, grown using the Quadgrow system, yielded a minimum of 25 cucumbers per plant. I don't think it was a particularly good year for cukes due to the excessive heat in July and August. At times, the temperature in the polytunnel exceeded 40 ℃ though, fortunately, the plants did not have to cope with drought conditions because of the self-watering Quadgrow units. The plants clearly suffered (pale green leaves and poor fruit setting) as this photo shows ...

Stressed Cucumber Plant - 20th July

... but it was brought back into production by some TLC. The majority of cucumbers were eaten raw in salads, sandwiches and dips or processed into soup or cucumber relish ...

Last year's Cucumber Relish

[Note: this is the last jar of cucumber relish from 2021 - this year's production, about 10 jars, is less photogenic as Mary forgot to label them!] 

We have also reached the end of the tomato season - at least for us. We are harvesting a mix of red and green tomatoes for eating now or leaving to ripen indoors on a sunny windowsill ...

End-of-season ripe/unripe tomatoes

BREAKING NEWS: It is possible the cucumber season may not quite be finished!! A juvenile cuke has been discovered hiding under a leaf and may yet develop into a fully-fledged adult. Watch this space ...

Definitely the final cucumber of 2022??