When your kids tell you what they want to plant, be SURE this means they will EAT it. My kids told me to plant cucumbers and yes, of course, they would eat it.
But apparently, my kids fib. Have eyes bigger than their bellies. Whatever. Fact of the matter remains, we don’t eat cucumbers in this family.
Not that I don’t love them, I do! With rice vinegar, in a salad, stuffed into a veggie sandwich from the mall… They’re super. But at home? In my garden?
Nope. We don’t eat them and today I had the luxury of sweating in the hot July sun to remove the batch.
Not fun. I didn’t know this, but cucumbers have sharp vines with pricklys that hurt. And grasping rotten fruit is not my idea of a good time. I’m supposed to be on vacation right now, not gardening in the hot July sun. In Florida, you’ll die of dehydration!
Definitely not recommended. Now my patio containers, on the other hand, filled with lettuce and herbs… They’re thriving. My tomato seedlings are warming to germination, and my Poinsettia love the shade, but my cukes?
Nasty. A weed infested nightmare. Good thing I mulched well. It cut down task difficulty, considerably.
So come fall, when the kids put in their request, I plan to make sure they are foods I’ve actually witnessed them eat. Gardening is great fun–until you have to pull overripe and abandoned fruit. Then, not so much.
Bloominthyme 
Thanks for your comments!