Just a Little Support Goes a Long Way

Close up view of bamboo stakes supporting my cucumber vines

As cucumbers grow and produce fruit, they can grow for many feet (4 to 9 feet depending on the variety) and sprawl all over the ground. They take up precious garden space and then there's the issue of dirty cucumbers, not to mention easy access to  ground insects. I have solved these problems with bamboo stakes, a simple yet inexpensive solution. At first glance, bamboo stakes look like a pretty flimsy solution. By themselves, bamboo stakes are thin and spindly and bow under the weight of heavy and productive cucumber or tomato plant.  They are certainly not as sturdy as the solid wood sticks that my Father would use to or the metal cages you can buy in the store and use year after year! 

That said, I like bamboo stakes for a number of reasons:

1-They can actually become a pretty strong support system for cukes or tomatoes when you tie them together into a trellis and brace them to ground with a one or two "tent stakes"   

2-Building my trellis becomes a part of my daily nurturing process as I "sucker my tomatoes, redirect my growing vines, look for storm and insect damage, prune and support them as needed.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you will see the bamboo stakes supporting my cucumber plants as well as the little curly tendrills that the cucumber sends out to support itself.  You might also see a string on the left side of the picture going down to my tent stake.

Life Lesson:

As humans, we were never intended to carry the weight of life's burdens and responsibilities alone. As we carry the responsibility of work, family and business, we were work best if we have a support network and are encouraged and helped by friends, family, mentors, church members and advisors.

While we may have primary responsibility to carry our load, just a little support goes a long way.

 "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)