Growing Cucumbers - Easy, Healthy, and Pretty

If you're thinking of growing some vegetables and enjoy eating cucumbers, I highly recommend planting one or two cucumber plants.  A first reason to grow them is that they are included on the "dirty dozen", a list of twelve fruits and vegetables that have been tested and found to have high levels of residual chemicals when grown non-organically. While you can avoid the residual pesticides by purchasing organic produce, growing your own is the best way to avoid unwanted chemicals, not to mention the cost savings. 

Another appealing aspect of cucumbers is that they are easy to grow and relatively low maintenance. While there are known cucumber diseases and pests, in my experience, cucumbers are one of the easier crops to care for. And last but not least, there is the aesthetic appeal of cucumber plants. If you grow a vining cucumber variety, it will grow vertically, creating a whole new realm of growing possibilities. As a new gardener, my focus has been on determining how much, where, and what I want to grow. As a result, our cucumbers have been growing along the ground. However, after browsing the internet for some vertical cucumber plant ideas, I'm set on tackling an attractive vertical design for our garden next summer. Here are a few of the images that I intend to use for inspiration.