All About Home and Garden

When it comes to gherkins you either love them or hate them, you either like the taste of them or you do not, there is no middle ground. Many people dislike the taste when they are younger but then grow to like them when they are older.

In the shops you only tend to be able to buy pickled gherkins and not fresh ones.

So if you want fresh gherkins to eat or to pickle yourself then you will most likely have to grow them yourself.

They are actually part of the cucumber family, and whilst they taste far different they are basically mini-cucumbers and so not unsurprisingly they are grown in the same way as cucumbers.

This means that you do not have to live in an exotic climate to grow them. If you can grow cucumbers where you live then you can grow gherkins as well.

You may well have to buy the seeds online as they are hard to come by even in large gardening shops.

Planting your gherkins - they like a sunny position and will grow their best in full sunlight, although they will still do okay if slightly in the shade.

You will need to start them off indoors, ideally in a propagator and then prick them out into 3 or 4 inch pots when they have four leaves on them.

Like cucumbers they are sensitive to over watering and this can kill them faster than under watering them can.

As they grow larger they can be planted out in the garden, but only after all risk of frost has gone.

The gherkins should be planted out in to soil that has had well rotted manure dug in to it.

You will need to support them with canes as they grow taller, lightly tying the plants on with string. Do this as soon as possible as they are sensitive plants and do not like being battered by the wind.

Harvesting your gherkins

When the fruits appear they will grow thick and fast, so for best results then pick them when they are no more than 4 inches long.

They can be eaten straight away or pickled for using over the year. To pickle the gherkins simply use a large glass jar and normal pickling vinegar. Once pickled they will last for years although personally I would only pickle as many gherkins as I would use in the next year.

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