In a continuation of my series highlighting the garden seeds we ordered for our 2026 garden, I’m going to combine several vegetables into one post. This post will go over our cucumber, flax, and leek seeds. And if you missed the previous installments, you can read about our bean seeds and corn seeds. Plus, here’s a post that showcases all of the seeds we ordered.

Cucumbers

I love cucumbers, so much so that I dug into the history of them in this post. They’re one of my favorite vegetables to eat during the summer heat, and I crave the coolness they provide. Last year, we planted a lot of cucumber plants, and the vines went everywhere. They intersected with each other and other plants and were difficult to navigate through. We also had more cucumbers than we knew what to do with and lost some ripe ones that were buried underneath leaves. Because of that, we’re scaling back our cucumbers in this year’s garden. We still want variety that can be eaten fresh and pickled. Plus, there’s still a specialty cucumber that I couldn’t resist.

Bushy

This short-season cucumber is one of the earliest varieties you can find, maturing in 45 to 50 days. This variety has a bush-growing habit, as is evident by its name, and can even be grown in containers, which we are considering. The cucumbers are excellent for fresh eating and pickling. The Bushy cucumber originated in Moscow, Russia, where plants that thrive in short summers are essential. We haven’t grown this variety in the past. The seeds come from Pinetree Gardens.

Mexican Sour Gherkin

This is a variety I’ve been interested in for a couple of years. Also called Cucamelon or Mouse Melon, the Mexican Sour Gherkin is native to Central America and has been eaten there since before the Europeans arrived. This variety grows on vines, so it needs a trellis or fence and grows many 1-inch fruits that resemble tiny watermelons. Our seeds come from Fedco.

Flax

Historically, Pennsylvania grew a lot of flax, which was milled, spun, and used to create linen for clothing, bedding, and more. Its oil is what we call linseed oil. Over time, the commonwealth stopped growing flax on a large scale, and we no longer have mills for processing. Last year, Magz learned about the PA Flax Seed Project, which has a goal of reestablishing flax as a commodity crop in Pennsylvania. As a result, we became interested in being part of the movement to see flax grown in PA once again.

Common Flax

We were originally going to participate in the Square Yard Project, which is part of the PA Flax Project, but their website for signing up was down when we were ordering seeds. So, Magz found seeds from True Love Seeds, which is based in Pennsylvania. According to their seed description, common flax is mostly grown in Europe and Central Asia. Linseed can be used medicinally for its anti-inflammatory properties. The oil and seeds can be consumed and are rich in omega-3s. Plus, the fiber can be used to create textiles. We bought a single pack of it with the goal of learning how to grow it. It’s supposed to be very easy to grow.

Leeks

We have never grown leeks and, to my knowledge, have only cooked them once or twice. But with a flavor that’s described as being similar to a green onion but sweeter, we’re confident that we’ll like them. One of my gardening goals is to grow onions in the future, but they can be finicky and can take a lot of preparation, so leeks seemed like the next best thing.

King Richard

I knew that I wanted a leek variety with the shortest time to maturity that I could find in case we have another late spring or an early frost in the fall. The King Richard Leek fits that mold, only needing 75 days to mature. Our seeds come from Fedco.

Do you have a favorite cucumber variety to grow? If so, I’d love to hear about it and possibly grow it in the future. Also, have you ever grown flax or leeks? I look forward to hearing from you.