My wife ABSOLUTELY LOVES eating pickling cukes fresh. She doesn’t even leave me enough to pickle. We just call ’em pickles; maybe ‘cuz it’s easier than saying pickling cucumbers. In an effort to satisfy her cravings I always set out to get a bumper crop.
I’ve gardened for many, many years and have found that (at least in the garden) experience doesn’t always make up for knowledge. I used to think that planting as many cucumber plants that would fit in the garden would get me the most cucumbers. Rational? You bet. Reasonable? Uh huh. Wrong? Absolutely! I also thought that soaking them top to bottom was a good idea. Not so much. I was very disappointed in last seasons outcome; I did what all you young kids do and went on the interweb to find out how to grow cucumbers better.
Turns out cucumbers like some room to breathe; it allows pollinators to get to the flowers easier. Also, (just like tomatoes) cukes don’t appreciate their leaves being bathed; the plants much prefer being watered at ground level. Another interesting fact: Cucumbers love the company of nasturtium. They attract pollinators, and they are beautiful too! Also, you can eat the nasturtium flowers. The have an interesting peppery flavor.
This year I planted six plants about two feet apart in the sunniest spot in my garden. I planted them in front of a trellis I made out of pallets (of course!) The plants have gone crazy; the picture is my haul from one day of harvesting. Some of them pickles hide on me and get a little too big, but they’re still good eatin’.
Bit of Wisdom: Blending your experience with as much knowledge as you can gather will give you great results in gardening (and life!)
Weird! Why a picture of dough and not the finished product? Well, you might find it hard to believe that any bread worth eating can come out of a dough this goopy. I promise your efforts will be rewarded if you follow the recipe and your dough looks just like the picture. I keep discovering that a sticky dough winds up making a tastier bread; don’t worry about your hands getting messy. A little soap and water and you’ll be right as rain.
I just realized I hadn’t put up a post of this coffee cup rack that is so prominently featured on my homepage. Rookie mistake! My daughter Rebecca was moving to a new apartment for grad school and I asked her if she would like something like this. All she needed was to say yes and I started this project.
My wife liked the end table I made and decided we needed two more. So, I made two more. I realize I am I’m a beginner in my woodworking hobby, so don’t judge too harshly. In fact, please don’t judge. Experienced woodworkers use dowels and dovetail joints to put furniture together. They also use lathes, joiners, and planers. My most sophisticated tool is my DeWalt miter saw (I named her Daisy.) I do my level (get it?) best to make my tables sturdy using nails and screws. This end table and its mate are solid and even round things put on them don’t roll off! I waited until spring until I could bring these outside to finish them (see last post.) I used only one coat of stain so the grain would show through and then rubbed on two coats of Tung oil. By the by, the wife loves ’em.
This picture looks very large. I guess I must have wanted you all to see the grates on my Holland Grill up close. I make fish for myself to bring to work. I buy 2 lb. frozen bags of Tilapia at the Aldi; a great value! I’d eat fish at home but my wife doesn’t appreciate the aroma (or taste) of fish. I made the marinade and tasted it and it did NOT taste good. I threw the recipe in to the recycle bag, yet finished making the fish anyway. Ya’ see, I had run out of time to try something else and I really didn’t want to skip dinner. But lo’ and behold, the finished product tasted excellent! I promptly fished (pun way intended) the recipe out of the bag and added it to my fish recipe repertoire.
These are bialys, a considerably less well known cousin of a bagel. Okay, I agree, they don’t look so great…but they taste delicious! I have always enjoyed a good bialy and had enjoyed some on a trip to Hollywood (Florida!) Problem? I can’t find a good bialy near my home in good ol’ Minnesota. So I decided to try my hand at making them, and this picture is of my first batch. I have made them many, many times since; even the worst made batch tastes great! I invite you to try the recipe, you’ll be surprised at how good of a baker you are.
Suburban Dad Man 