Cucumbers are a great plant to have for your garden after the SHTF. Cucumbers are a great plant to have for your garden after the SHTF. Why, because, Cucumbers meet every requirement for a sustainable garden.
Cucumbers are very easy to grow, require little care and can be pickled for use year round. A year round food supply is required as seasonal variation in food availability will be the downfall of many that are trying to survive without advance preparation.
The seeds can easily be saved and used for the next growing season. This is important because it does little good to have seed available if they will eventually run out. The goal should be sustainability for the long term.
How to grow cucumbers? It is really, pretty simple really. Plant a few seeds in mounds of dirt and let the vines come up there in clusters. Plant after the fear of frost has passed, as cucumbers do not tolerate cold temperatures. The cucumber plants are vines and will need something to grow on. So provide them something to grow upward on.
Cucumbers can be grown without the support but getting them off the ground allows for more sunlight to reach the plant which will allow them to produce more cucumbers. This also allows the cucumbers to grow off of the ground which aids in preventing infestations and damage from bugs or from molding which can happen when the cucumber is in contact with the soil.
Cucumbers that are to be pickled should be picked earlier than those that are to be eaten raw.
Cucumbers will need to be protected from drought. Having a water source close by is a huge advantage.
Always harvest mature seed when collecting seeds for the following year. Cucumber seeds at the eating stage are not ripe and will not germinate if saved. You must allow the fruit and seed to fully mature. Because the seed set reduces the vigor of the plant and discourages further fruit production, wait until near the end of the season to save fruit for seed.
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