Tiny cucumbers

When I planned our garden I had no idea what we would use as a trellis for our climbing plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes and peas so when I was shopping online for seeds I chose varieties with compact habits. Our cucumbers are a tiny white slicing or pickling variety called 'mini white'. The vines are supposed to grow only to 3 feet tall and the fruit is a 3" white with thin burpless skin and small spines.

We picked and sliced two of the 'tiynee cyucumm-bers' for T.'s afternoon snack. He left one lone slice on the plate but carried it around for half an hour then asked to feed it to the worms. He already seems to understand the cycle of life.

The vines are infected with anthracnose. I did not catch it early since we were out of town and now I will have to treat them with copper which is a fairly mild organic treatment but hopefully it will work, they are looking pretty bad. I'm still trying to get all my materials, sprays, etc. together. I am only using organic treatments recommended in my trusty bible, "The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control". Awesome, awesome book. I am fertilizing with fish emulsion in a hose-end sprayer every couple times I water. I use it pretty diluted. I am also fertilizing with milorganite, I've put that down twice since planting. Not sure if it is considered "organic", I know it is not chemical but I will have to look into that further.