On cucumbers

When I created a blog a couple of months ago, I fully intended for it to be about geography.  Now, 150+ thesis pages and a Master's degree later, geography is pretty far down on the list of things I want to think about, let alone write about.   So now that the school year has drawn to an end, what am I thinking about?  Well, the truth is... not much.  I am far too busy canning pickles, pureeing cucumbers into cuke soup (it's good--I promise!), and counting down the days until the first ripe zucchini to even think about thinking about geography.

Also, I've been thinking more and more about keeping some sort of garden (b)log to keep track of when the important events occur each year--you know, when the first tomato plant blossoms and when the first bell pepper is ready to eat.  And less exciting but equally important events like when the weird beetle things finally killed the broccoli plants.  As my gardening partner (and boyfriend) and I have quickly learned, gardening isn't all sunshine and roses.  In our backyard in particular, it's more mosquitoes and weeds than sunshine and roses. 

This year, the mosquitoes and weeds hit their stride in late June, just as the first cucumbers came in.  In fact, the cukes were so exciting that I barely noticed the 67 mosquito bites I had after spending just 15 minutes in the garden.  (Note: If anything, 67 bites is an underestimate. These cucumbers come with a hefty personal sacrifice.)  That first week of cucumbers, it was cucumbers on a bagel for breakfast.  Cucumber and tomato salads for lunch.  Cucumber dill yogurt dip for a snack.  Every morning for the first week, the boyfriend and I would excitedly go out to our little garden in the backyard, pulling back the big cucumber leaves and vines in search of our precious garden bounty.

Then, all of the sudden, the honeymoon faded.  Just yesterday morning, as I stood in front of the hot stove putting quarts and quarts of pickles into boiling hot water to seal the Ball canning jars, I found myself wishing for some Evil Garden Pest to come and quickly devour all of our cucumber plants.  But come December, I keep reminding myself, when I'm eating homemade pickles out of the jar with the refrigerator door open, it will all be worth it... Right?