Apr. 26 Column: Grow Cucurbit Family Crops

Do you grow Cucurbit family crops? I’m talking about cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and summer or winter squash. They really are one of the workhorses of the garden and are the focus of this week’s column: Warm season crops as cool as a cucumber.

I love all of these crops, from the fresh taste of cucumbers, the succulence of homegrown melons and the abundant zucchinis to the winter-time staples of pumpkins and winter squash. All are quite easy to grow as you’ll find out in my column.

Last year, Bill and I made an arbor in our garden from livestock panels. We grew cucumbers, melons and small winter squash on it last summer. Although, to be honest, it wasn’t a roaring success because we were having problems with tree roots infiltrating all of our southernmost raised beds. But we’re giving it a go again this year and I can’t wait to see how they do!

If you’re wondering what’s in the photos above: at the very top is ‘Tuscan Napoli’ cantaloupe and it is to die for! The seeds came from Renee’s Garden Seeds. The above left photo is of light-skinned ‘Clarimore’ zucchini, another fabulous cultivar. The seeds also came from Renee’s, although it is available at additional online sources. Of course, it’s always important to check your local garden centers first!

For this week’s Everyone Can Grow a Garden video, I decided to do a late April update since the garden is really starting to come together. Take a look: