Web Site Name

Barbara Pleasant: Cucumbers for Pickles
 
cucumber beetle on calendula
Cucumber beetles often carry bacterial wilt, which is the most common disease problem with cucumbers. I trap many by leaving a yellow pail full of water near the calendulas, where cucumber beetles often try to hide.
borage blossoms
Growing borage near cucumbers seems to discourage cucumber beetles, too. I suspect the cucumber beetles are intimidated by the big bumblebees that hang out in the borage.

More Pleasant Reading

on Cucumbers

 

 

At GrowVeg.com:

Time to Make Homemade Pickles (2010)

 

at Mother Earth News

The Great Cucumber Challenge

Fresh cucumbers are great on the summer table, but pickled cucumbers easily last for a year. From a single planting of pickling cucumbers, I put up one six-pint batch of dills and a case of assorted sweet pickles, bread-and-butters and various relishes. That makes a year's supply of homemade pickles. We’re still learning on fermented pickles. For the record, compost accepts slimy, over-fermented pickles just fine, salt and all.

Questions, you have questions…

Do you need to grow special pickling cucumbers?

Yes if you’re making fermented pickles and yes if you want baby sweets, because both benefit from the superior structure of small, firm pickling cucumbers. For general pickle-making, any cucumbers including heirlooms, slicers, Armenians, Japanese, you name it make will make decent pickles when picked young and firm. With pickling cucumbers and larger varieties, little scissors are the perfect cucumber harvesting tool. Ideally, you want the seeds inside to be visibly formed, but still soft and translucent.

Why not grow different kinds? We grow about 6 plants of a pickling cucumber like 'Little Leaf' that’s resistant to bacterial wilt. Using a trellis makes the little cukes easier to find -- harvesting pickling cucumbers can be tedious! In the fall I like to grow ‘Lemon’ or another small heirloom, and use them in refrigerator pickles.

baby dill
If you're gonna make homemade pickles you'll need some dill, which is very easy to grow from seeds sown directly in the garden. Dill's leaves, yellow flower umbels and seeds all can be gathered at pickling time. A cool-season annual, dill will even reseed with a little help. 
pickling cucumbers Cucumis sativus
tulle row cover on cucumber;;
Wedding net, also called tulle, makes a fine row cover to protect cucumbers from cucumber beetles and other pests. I gather up the veil when the plants start blooming heavily. 
pickling cucumbers and slicers
pickling cucumbers and slicers

Need Recipes?

Making cucumber pickles is an art, but it’s an easy one to learn. If you’re interested in food preservation at all, you need a copy of Putting Food By (1992, updated 2010). It’s the Joy of Cooking of food preservation.

I have found so many good recipes in Storey’s Pickles and Relishes (1991) that I keep trying new ones. This modest paperback is a treasure for any homestead cook.

To develop your fermenting skills, you’ll need Wild Fermentation (2003). The book is kind of out there, but then so are many fermented foods. We did have one fantastic year with salt-cured pickles in a crock, but other years have shown our lack of practice. Every season offers another chance to try.