There Once Was A Cucumber
That Fell In Love With A Grape

None of the other EarthBox plants could blame it. The grape was a pink seedless RELIABLE grape from Gurney’s. And, man, was it reliable! So reliable, in fact, it nearly quadrupled in size in just a few weeks. Yes, that fast!

How do I know it’s LOVE?

Well, cucumber has wrapped its dainty (but powerful) spiraling tendrils around grape’s straight, purposeful shoots; and grape has leaned its lovely, delicate vine toward cucumber, exposing its new growth in adulation.

Cucumber And Grape In The Garden Of Love

I’m praying this is the compatible, nurturing kind of love; not the sick, choking, sleeping-with-the-enemy kind. But, if you know me by now, you know I usually err on the sunny side; and like every other potential obstacle in this experiment in EarthBox container gardening that I believed would result in something positive, I believe this union will result in the healthy and mutually beneficial relationship between two different types of plants known as companion gardening —  I believe they will help each other grow. And, that’s a very cool and beautiful thing.

The grape planted with the stevia (formerly known as “The Stick”) is not doing nearly as well, but it’s thriving nonetheless and I have no concern for it doing otherwise. In fact, all of the plants are thriving, almost as if they’re happy for cucumber and grape (there is no room for jealousy in this garden); and they’re turning their eager faces to the sun and reaching a bit higher for the sky every day.

EarthBox Container Garden Plants
“Grow, Grow, Growing!”

You may be asking yourself how cucumber and grape came to arrive at “first base” in the first place as I had not planted cucumbers initially. And, you also may notice some additional plants in the picture above as well. That’s because there are.

On Mother’s Day weekend, Christine, the boys, and I left our apartment (still undergoing a facelift), and hit the road up to the home of my parental units in Tennessee. Their home is just over the Tennessee/Alabama State line, not far from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. (If you’ve never been there, it’s definitely worth the trip!)

“The Crib” A La New Color Scheme

It was an easy and uneventful ride up and a lovely visit overall. We went to church on Mother’s Day and afterward Mum took me to Plant City in Fayetteville, Tennessee (pronounced Plant See-dee in Fayetteville, Tennessee) to get me something for Mother’s Day. An avid gardener herself, she supports Heather’s Homegrown despite her skepticism over the grapes.

I told her I wanted a strawberry pot for Mother’s Day because I read that consuming strawberries is beneficial for reducing stress and therefore stress-induced inflammation, which I have a tendency to suffer from particularly during stressful times when they happen on this third rock from the sun. Plus, my youngest can eat his weight in strawberries.

Additionally, I got a basil plant and a rhubarb plant — and from the 50% off “dead pile” no less.

I’ve been entertaining the notion of making a strawberry-rhubarb pie for my Dad because he is forever pleading fervently, “Please! I just want one fruit pie like Mum [his Mum] used to make. Can’t I just have one fruit pie?”

Rhubarb (Planted With Tomatoes):
Just For You, Dad

I got the basil because I like to eat it in salads and make pesto with it. Plus, basil possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and antibacterial properties so it offers many health benefits.

Basil Springing Back To Life In An EarthBox

That’s when I saw the cucumber plants for a whopping $1.50 each.

I explained to Mum that I had been reading that cucumbers, which we used to grow on the ground in Connecticut, actually prefer growing up trellises. If you think about it, with all over sunlight exposure the hanging cucumber doesn’t end up with one side of it underdeveloped and yellow (or even rotten) from laying directly on the ground.

I explained companion gardening and told her I had read that cucumbers like growing up cornstalks. Not having planted corn, I told her “just for kicks,” I was going to plant them with the grapes and simply… see what happens.

Being a ‘Go for it!’ kind of gal, Mum advised accordingly. Either that, or she truly has no hope for the grapes!

So, that’s how we got where we are today — with love blooming on the balcony. I pray cucumber and grape remain a happy, healthy couple of companions, and not so much like this couple on the Mother’s Day edition of Saturday Night Live featuring Will Ferrell.

Hopefully, this couple will be in a healthier place soon.

Enjoy!

To Mother Earth,