I mostly lurk on this group because I don't have a veggie garden. Our
lot's shaded, our soil's the pits, the city water is salty, and
everything poops out in the hot, dry Central Texas summers when it's
no fun to be outside. (end of whine)

Imagine my suprise, then to discover three tiny cucumbers! The vine
grew out of my compost heap and has festooned the outside of the
compost cage all summer. I never figured it would bloom and just
thought I'd be pitching it into the heap at the end of the season.
Well, the silly thing has flowered, the local bees have been obliging,
and if there's no early frost this year I may have my very own cukes.
I'm so excited!

Monique Reed
College Station, TX

From: Monique Reed

I mostly lurk on this group because I don't have a veggie garden. Our
lot's shaded, our soil's the pits, the city water is salty, and
everything poops out in the hot, dry Central Texas summers when it's
no fun to be outside. (end of whine)

Imagine my suprise, then to

discover three tiny cucumbers! The vine
grew out of my compost heap and has festooned the outside of the
compost cage all summer. I never figured it would bloom and just
thought I'd be pitching it into the heap at the end of the season.
Well, the silly thing has flowered, the local bees have been obliging,
and if there's no early frost this year I may have my very own cukes.
I'm so excited!

Monique Reed
College Station, TX

Volunteers can often spice up garden life. The fruit mature fast--but if a real
hard frost is due they can be harvested at any size and used. An old, blanket,
tarp or plastic sheet can protect from a light frost but probably not a heavy
one.

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 15:37:55 -0500, Monique Reed
wrote:

I mostly lurk on this group because I don't have a veggie garden. Our
lot's shaded, our soil's the pits, the city water is salty, and
everything poops out in the hot, dry Central Texas summers when it's
no fun to be outside. (end of whine)

Imagine my suprise, then to discover three tiny cucumbers! The vine
grew out of my compost heap and has festooned the outside of the
compost cage all summer. I never figured it would bloom and just
thought I'd be pitching it into the heap at the end of the season.
Well, the silly thing has flowered, the local bees have been obliging,
and if there's no early frost this year I may have my very own cukes.
I'm so excited!


Great!

But you can cope with the rest too, unless your ENTIRE lot
is shaded solid. Even at that, if the shade is dappled, you
can probably grow the green leafy veggies: spinach, chard,
Asian greens, and some herbs.

You can garden in spring and fall - probably even winter -
when the weather's cooler, and you can garden in
'grow-boxes' or 'tire-planters' or containers of some sort
and make your own soil: fill the containers with a mixture
of (purchased) Pro-Mix and top soil, or mushroom compost, or
whatever you can find.

Pat


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