In a Pickle

My poor cucumbers took a turn for the worse this week.

It's been so hot and humid and very buggy. They didn't have a chance. The leaves are all yellow and spotty now. I tried every trick I could find online to save them but I think it's too late. 

 Just look at this miserable crop of cukes. I got one normal one in the lot. They are supposed to be small pickling cucumbers but they look like anything but. I read that this is a case of poor pollination. I can believe it. We have very few bees here. I've only ever seen one buzzing around the carts. 

Even though they were ugly they still tasted pretty good. All of the ugly ones got chopped and put into brine for some garlicky dill refrigerator pickles. I didn't have the heart or the room to cut up the pretty one just yet.

The tomatoes are also starting to worry me. They are looking a little rough too. If I do this next year I will stick to cherry tomatoes. These are Better Boys and they still have a long way to go. 

My kale is still going strong. I hope to keep it alive until it cools down. It will be much happier then and so will I. They are talking 100 this week. Ugh. 

Now let me sing the praises of my new plastic floor. I bought 6 mil sheeting this time. It's nice and thick and very slick. It's easy to keep clean especially since we only have one seam down the middle between the rooms now. The old plastic was in patches all over the place because we never expected that we would have to keep it down forever. Who would have thought?