How To Make A Cucumber Trellis

Making your own sturdy, inexpensive trellis for cucumbers, peas, pole beans and so forth is not difficult to do.  With this method, which is quite common and not any sort of innovation on my part, works very well, can be easily made in any height and width to fit your space and your needs.  Notice on this photo of the finished trellis that it is not perfect.  The strings are knotted 'approximately' where they need to be.  The cucumbers don't care and soon enough the vines will completely cover the trellis hiding all those annoying imperfections.  Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good when it comes to this project. 

 1.  Install a post at each end of your row to support your trellis.  I use T-posts about 8 feet apart.  How far apart the posts can be depends on the strength and tightness of the top horizontal support.  I use heavy gauge baling twine, which can be made very tight, stretches very little and therefor does not sag easily.  I could probably go 10-12 feet apart. 

The finished trellis

2. Attach your top string between the end posts at the height you want.  Make sure it's really tight.  The top of my trellis is at 5 feet.  Cut pieces of twine twice the height plus 4 feet - so I cut the twine pieces 14 feet long each.  Fold a string in half, loop it around the top string and bring the cut ends of the twine through the loop.  tighten the looped knot on the top string.  You will have a pair of twine pieces dangling from each each loop knot.  Place twine pairs about 6 inches apart all along the top string with the first and last pairs right next to the end posts.

looped twine attached to top string

All the twine attached to the top string

3.  Think of the dangling twine pieces as numbered.  Working from left to right, the first two dangling strings are no. 1 & 2, the next pair 3 & 4, next 5 & 6 and so forth.  Forget string no. 1 for the moment.  Take no. 2 and no. 3 and tie them in a knot about 6 inches below the top string to make a triangle.  Be sure to knot the strings using a 'square knot'.  "Right over left - Left over right".  That way the knots will not slip.

String no. 1 still dangling and string no. 2 & 3 knotted together

Knot together all the string pairs --  2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9,........etc., forming triangles across the top string ending with the last string dangling next to the far post.

Step 3 completed.  All the pairs knotted and last string dangling at the end post

4.  OK - next row.  Take string no. 1 and wrap it around the back side of the end post and knot it to string no. 2  at a point 12 inches down from the top string for string no. 1 and 6 inches below the knot for string no 2.  After that, knot together the pairs of strings 6 inches below the knots above -- 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, .........etc., forming a diamond pattern.  At the far end, wrap the last string round the back of the end post and knot it 12 inches below the top string and 6 inches below the knot above for the next to last string.

2nd row completed. Notice the last string wrapped around the post

5.  Repeat the knotting pattern row after row until you get close to ground level.  Row 3 - knot together strings 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, etc.,  six inches below the knot above, ignoring the first and last strings.  Row 4 - knot together strings 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, etc., six inches below the knots above, being sure to wrap the first and last string around the end post before knotting it 12 inches below the knot above.  For a 5 foot high trellis you will have about 10 rows.

end post showing the first string wrapped around the post at every other row

When you knot enough rows to reach close to the ground you will have a foot or so of dangling twine at the bottom.  It is not necessary to have the trellis reach all the way to the ground.  In fact - it's not good if it does.  It makes weeding, cultivating, mulching and so forth, more difficult if it does.  You can just let the loose ends of twine just dangle or cut them off about an inch below the bottom row of knots, which again, makes working around the young small plants easier, I think.  I run a bottom string of the heavy duty baling twine between the end posts, weaving it in and out the bottom row of diamonds.  This is optional but makes for a neater finish.

The Taylor Family Cemetery

Our country home was built in 1859 by M.C. Taylor for his wife Sarah (Sallie) Taylor and their children.  It was the second home built on the Taylor property - the foundation ruins of an earlier home, probably from the early 1830's when Miles and Sallie were starting their family - lies in the woods about a 1/2 mile north of the current house.

The front porch is clearly a later addition and is not original to the house.  I'm not sure what type, if any, of front porch the home may have originally have had.

 The Taylor family property is popularly believed to have been several thousand acres at one time, encompassing land from about a mile or so north of the home, east about a 1/4 mile to the county line, west about 1 1/2 miles and south about 4 miles to the Meherrin River.  Around 5,000 - 6,000 acres.  Early Civil War era maps mark the property.

'Gilmore' map of 1864.  M. Taylor property marked in the bottom right corner just west of the county line.

On the east side of the house is a tranquil oak shaded family cemetery where the Taylor family members are buried as well as the descendents who inherited and lived on the property all the way up to us purchasing the home.  The cemetery is a separate piece of land, officially deeded and registered as a private cemetery.

Posts for gate into the cemetery

I'm installing a fence around the property I own.  The cemetery has frontage on the paved road, so technically there is 'access', but in reality there is no driveway and the graves are 400 plus feet from the road next to the house.  I'm installing a gate in the property fence line so visitors and family can have easy access to the graveyard.

Miles C. Taylor.  Feb 15, 1806 - Nov 28, 1889

Sallie E. Taylor.  Feb 14, 1808 - May 27, 1885

The original owners of the home are buried side by side near where The gate will be installed.

Confederate veterans graves with original bronze medallions from the Confederate Veterans Association c.1890's

Four Taylor sons and a son-in-law, all Confederate veterans, are buried in the family cemetery near their parents whose graves are at the far right in the picture.  In the back row at the far right there is a flag and medallion without a headstone.  This is the grave of Robert Sterling Taylor, Miles & Sallie's youngest son of age to serve in the military during the Civil War and the only one who died as a result of a wound sustained during the war.  Born Jan 31, 1843 he died on Mar 31, 1863 at home.  He was 20 years old.  His headstone is propped up at the base of one of the oak trees and just barely readable if the light is just right.  I am researching ways to restore the headstone properly and will re-install it on his grave when the work is completed.  Three other older sons, Benjamin James Taylor, Richard Henry Taylor, and William Daniel Taylor and son-in-law John William Turner all survived the war.  At least two of them were surrendered by General Lee to Grant at Appomattox.  On-line I have seen copies of their parole slips given to them for safe passage back home as well as some of their muster papers, payroll records and other documentation.  More research will fill in some of the blanks.  Members of the local chapter of the Confederate Veterans Association come once a year in the spring to clean up the cemetery and place new flags on the graves.

descendent owners of the Taylor home are buried in the north end of the graveyard

Interestingly all the sons of Miles and Sallie moved away, had lives and property elsewhere in Virginia, were brought home for burial when they passed, but did not inherit the home place and property.  The home passed to a daughter who married a Turner, whose daughter married a Hardy, whose daughter married a Boettcher.  Turners, Hardys and Boettchers are all buried in the graveyard.  The last and most recent burial was Janet Hardy Boettcher in 2002.  Her grave is just barely visible in the bright sun in the background next to the large shrub in the upper right of the picture.  I think Miles and Sallie would have been her great-great-great grandparents.  I'll figure it all out one day.  By the way - the Confederate Veterans Association is an equal honor group.  They place the Stars-and-Bars flag of the Confederacy on Confederate veterans graves and the Stars-and-Stripes on the graves of Union veterans and veterans of modern US Military units.  Janet Boettcher was a Navy nurse who served in Vietnam so her grave gets a new flag every spring also.

Pesto - Basil, Basil and more Basil

We are growing two types of Basil in the garden, Genovese and Lettuce Leaf,  both from Bavicchi brand seed imported from Italy and purchased from Italian Seed and Tool.

Lettuce Leaf Basil - about 18" tall plants

We started some Lettuce Leaf Basil indoors on early spring and transplanted it to the garden in May.  It is lush and vigorous and smells so good.  The Genovese Basil and more Lettuce Leaf Basil were direct sown in the garden in May and are still a ways off from harvest size.

I harvested a whole plant the other day and made fresh Pesto for roasted eggplant, roasted pepper, & mozzarella panini.  Yummy.  Here is my recipe for Basil Pesto.  I use walnuts because they are so much easier to get and aren't as expensive as pine nuts.  Yes - it's still classic Pesto if you use walnuts.

BASIL PESTO

Ingredients:

 2 cups packed Basil leaves

1/2 cup walnut pieces

3 peeled garlic cloves

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Put all the ingredients except the olive oil into the bowl of your food processor or blender.

Pulse a few times to chop and mix until you like the consistency of the basil and walnuts.

With the motor running - slowing add the olive oil to make a thick emulsion.

Easy and delicious.  Adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your liking.  There are no Pesto Police.  

Did you know there is a little hole in the bottom of the cylindrical 'pusher' on your food processor.  It is there so you can pour in the oil all at once and it will slowly drain into the bowl in a thin stream - the perfect 'add slowly' regulator.  Really - that's what it's there for.  Pesto freezes well for future use.  Top off your container of pesto with some extra olive oil floated on top before putting it in the freezer.  Defrost slowly in the refrigerator for a couple of days and pour off the extra oil on top before mixing well and using.  Add oil to the top of any leftover you want to store in the fridge to keep it fresh and bright green.

Spring / Summer Garden

Clearly Murphy was a gardener and his Law is absolute in the country.  Cold winter, wet spring, broken equipment, rain when you don't want it or need it and no rain when when you do, hard scrabble clay soil and bug plagues.  We have already had them all and we are just getting started!

But the garden is IN!  Late - but in!

It has already been a huge learning experience to try to grow a large garden here in Piedmont Virginia.  The very late spring and wet weather delayed planting for everyone.  Trying to establish a new garden with all the plowing, harrowing, soil amending, and tilling put us further behind.  Last and not least, our new tiller failed just when we needed it most, but in the end resulted in the manufacturer stepping up and providing a brand new unit.  That whole saga is an epic story in itself for another posting.

Watermelons and Cantaloupes on the left with hay mulch - then winter and summer squash, peppers, then tomatoes, eggplant under row cover, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage toward the back and last are  the onions.  On the right, down in back, are the potatoes, sweet potatoes, basil and sage

 Despite the cold wet spring the warm weather arrived at it's usual time.  The cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower - didn't make it.  The seedlings we started indoors began beautifully, but finally became too root bound in their pots waiting for the wet weather to end so the garden could be prepared for planting.  They just didn't thrive in the garden once planted and clearly were not going to mature before the hot weather did them in.  Fortunately here in this part of the upper South you can plant those crops again in the late summer and grow them out into the cool fall, which they like.

broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower - all pulled and relegated to the compost piles

 The tomatoes suffered the same drama of beautiful seedlings becoming very root bound and nutrient deficient before finally getting into the ground.  We lost several plants immediately from transplant shock and all of them looked poor for a while but have come around and are now doing pretty well.  There arev6 varieties of tomatoes in 4 rows.  We transplanted 76 seedlings - 64 have survived.  New replacement seedlings have been started. 

The tomatoes are supported using the 'Florida Weave' method with a T-post every 3rd plant and plastic twine tightly strung on each side of the post.  Additional strings are added as the plants grow taller

 Our first planting of green beans - two types of bush snap beans and a pole snap bean germinated very well with the seed sown directly in the garden but were immediately annihilated by Bean Leaf Beetles in two days.  We had a plague of them because the garden plot was a soy bean field prior to us coming along.  We have starting replanting the bush beans and the pole beans.  The pole beans are planted all at once because they produce for a long time if you keep picking the beans.  We plant short rows of snap beans every week, alternating the variety to keep a steady supply of beans reasdy to pick.

Bean Laf Beetle buffet

French fillet green beans, Maxibel variety, under row cover to keep off the pests.  A short row of regular snap green beans, Provider variety, was sown one week after the 'Haricot Verte' beans.  Hoops at the ready when they germinate in a few days. 

Shortly after planting the potatoes - very late delivery of the seed potatoes due to freezing weather - we had a 3.6 inch monsoon rainfall which drowned some of the seed potatoes and they rotted in the ground.  I've heard from others that they lost their entire potato crop to rot so I don't feel too bad that we lost about 25% of our planting.

4 varieties of Irish type potatoes - Red Norland, White Superior, Irish Cobbler and Yukon Gold.  It's time to hoe the weeds and almost time hill them up.

The herb garden has been an almost complete failure from that huge rainfall.  First off I bought most of my herb seeds from D. Landreth Seed Company in Philadelphia, PA.  They are a very old seed company that goes way back.  I was totally disappointed in the quality of the seeds.  They seemed old with many broken and empty hulls in many of the seed packets.  With that and the seeds getting literally washed out of the ground by sheet flooding during the rainstorm- it was a complete bust.  Only the Lettuce Leaf Basil and Sage seedlings transplanted are doing well.  Again - because of the long growing season here there is still plenty of time to start seedlings or direct sow in the garden again.

The onions are doing well.  Having never grown opnions before, we have read up a lot on doing it properly.  So far so good.  We bought onion plants from Dixondale Farms in Texas for delivery in mid March, the proper planting time for this area.  Shipment was delayed almost two weeks by cold winter weather so the plants would not freeze during shipment.  Because the tiller was broken we had to had dig compost into the rows and make raised beds.  We planted every seedling we received - even the wimpy runts you get in the generous count in a 'bundle'.  Some are big, some are runty.  They are starting to bulb now and we expect a decent crop for our first try.

Onions - double rows of 4 varieties - Red Candy, Yellow Candy, White Superstar and Italian Cippolini

 

We tilled and mulched a bed at the top of the garden for watermelons, cantaloupes, sugar pie pumpkins and Seminole winter storage pumpkins.  All the hills we prepared have germinated and are starting to put out true leaves.

We have a row of acorn and butternut winter squash, a row of 4 varieties of cucumbers - 2 slicing and 2 pickling, a row of zucchini and a row of yellow crookneck and patty pan yellow summer squash.

Right up against the melon patch mulch is a row of winter squashes.  Next are the cukes where the T-posts are - you can see the first trellis I tied up for the cukes, 3 more to weave.  Then comes the zucchini and summer squashes.  In the foreground are New Mexico Hatch Chilis and tomatillos.  There are 5 other varieties of peppers, bith hot and sweet on the other side of the 4 rows of tomatoes.

I think the first thing picked from the garden will be Basil.  We are both starting to think about making a couple of panini with roasted red peppers, mozzarella and fresh Basil from the garden.  I don't think we are going to be able to hold out much longer............

Good Guys - Bad Guys

 This toad was hanging out in a moist spot next to the barn near the corner of the garden.  As an eater of 'Bad Guys' he is definitely one of the 'Good Guys'

Colorado Potato Beetle - Absolutely a 'Bad Guy'.  He was strolling down a garden path looking for a place to dine when intercepted.  A muncher of many garden things, not just potatoes.  Many are predicting a very buggy season and some say the opposite.  Some say it will rain a lot while others are predicting drought.  It will be hot, or hotter, or hottest, or it won't.  With gardening predictions someone always gets to say "I told ya so..."

Snake in the grass

This guy lives somewhere on the property, but I don't know where and probably will never find out.  It's a black snake, very common, very docile and very helpful at keeping the field mouse population in check. 

 

About 4 feet long, I see him every few days moving gracefully between the oak trees in front and on either side of the house.  I've never seen him in the back in the open areas.  If you walk up close to him he'll stop moving and if you then stand very still, he will eventually start moving again, usually a little closer to you to check you out and then move on going where snakes go to do what snakes do.

Springtime Buttercups

First it was the daffodils, then the Dogwoods bloomed.  Next came the violets, followed by the giant bed of Iris in the yard.  Now it's the Buttercups turn. The side yard and part of the pasture next door to the west are a carpet of the stunning bright flowers.  There are enough buttercups to hold under the chins of every man, woman and child in the county, at least.  Yes, they do prove that you like butter.