Early Summer: Cucumbers, Strawberries and Sprouting Potatoes Source
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1---2title: "Early Summer: Cucumbers, Strawberries and Sprouting Potatoes"3date: "2026-11-01"4published: true5author: "Gavin Jackson"6tags: ["gardening", "vegetables"]7excerpt: "The snow peas are out, cucumbers and a strawberry patch are in, the potted potatoes have sprouted, there is new trellis for the tomatoes and cucumbers, and something is eating the chilli and capsicum leaves."8---910# Early Summer: Cucumbers, Strawberries and Sprouting Potatoes1112A fortnight on from the [spring planting](/post/spring-planting-tomatoes-capsicums-chillies-potatoes) and the garden has shifted gear. Frost is now unlikely until autumn, so the remaining summer work has gone in.1314## Peas out, cucumbers in1516The old snow peas are out. They produced well through winter and early spring, but they were past it and the space was worth more than the last handful of pods. Cucumbers have gone in as the replacement.1718<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/cucumber-seedlings-trellis-2026.jpg" alt="Cucumber seedlings just sprouting through straw mulch under a wire grid" width="600"></p>1920*The cucumbers coming up through the mulch, with the wire grid over the bed.*2122## Strawberries2324A strawberry patch has gone in as well, in a long trough planter by the fence rather than in the raised beds. Strawberries are a longer-term occupant rather than a season-by-season crop, so this is the garden acquiring a permanent resident.25262728*The strawberry trough. One plant is well ahead of the others.*2930## Potatoes3132The Nicola seed potatoes that went into the big pots two weeks ago have sprouted. The first shoots are up through the mulch, which is roughly on schedule.3334<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/potatoes-sprouting-pots-2026.jpg" alt="Young potato shoots pushing up through mulch in large black pots" width="600"></p>3536*The first potato shoots coming through the mulch in the pots by the fence.*3738The plan of harvesting by tipping the pots over rather than digging remains untested, but so far the pots are doing their job.3940## Trellis4142A trellis has gone up to grow the tomatoes and cucumbers on. Nine tomato plants were never going to be managed with a few stakes alone, and the cucumbers will climb given the option. Getting the structure in now, while everything is still small, beats retrofitting it around established plants later.43444546*The trellis over the oval bed, with the tomatoes already settling in underneath.*4748## Something is eating the chillies and capsicums4950Leaves on the chilli and capsicum seedlings are being chewed. No culprit has been caught in the act yet. The usual suspects this time of year are caterpillars and slugs or snails, and the reliable way to find out is a torch inspection after dark. Until the offender is identified there is not much point spraying anything.5152<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/chilli-capsicum-bed-2026.jpg" alt="The chilli and capsicum bed, mulched, with variety tags still in place" width="600"></p>5354*The chilli and capsicum bed. Whatever is doing the chewing is not posing for photos.*5556## Still going from winter5758The lettuce bed refuses to quit, again. The cos and curly leaf lettuces are still producing, with a fresh lot of seedlings coming on behind them and a capsicum holding down the far end.5960<p align="center"><img src="/assets/garden/lettuce-bed-early-summer-2026.jpg" alt="The lettuce bed: cos and curly leaf lettuces still producing, new seedlings, and a capsicum at the far end" width="600"></p>6162*The lettuce bed, still the most reliable crop in the garden.*6364## What I am watching6566- Whether the night patrol turns up caterpillars, slugs, or something else entirely on the chillies and capsicums.67- Whether the cucumbers take to the trellis or need encouragement.68- How quickly the potatoes run now they are above the mulch.69- The strawberries settling in, and whether any fruit sets this season.70