Cucumbers need a lot of direct sun and a lot of space, either vertical (trellised) or horizontal (along the ground). Put them in a wide open sunny part of your yard. They’re also fairly susceptible to powdery mildew so keep an eye on them if the weather is rainy.
You mentioned you’re in Maine, which means you have a relatively short growing season. You might want to start your cucumber seeds inside to get a jump start on the season in the spring. Otherwise just make sure you get them started right away once it’s okay to plant outdoors so that you don’t run out of room at the end of the season.
Good luck and let us know how it goes! Cucumbers are a very rewarding plant, right up there with tomatoes for me as far as bang for your buck. Homegrown cucumbers have a crunch that totally knocks store bought ones out of the park.
Other vegetables I like growing that grow well in my corner of New England: Basil (grow enough to make several batches of pesto and freeze it) Tomatoes Sugar snap peas Leafy greens, especially collards and Swiss Chard Potatoes in 5-gallon buckets Hot peppers
They help significantly to combat the heat island effect in cities and provide shade and cooler microclimates for people to shelter in when it’s hot.
Just try going to a shady tree-lined path vs. a paved treeless path on a sunny day and you’ll be pretty clear on the meaning of this meme.
So yes we can’t stop global warming with trees alone but we can mitigate the local effects of it all while providing habitat for birds and shade for people and lots of other benefits besides.
This article has a pretty good review if you want to take a look at some of the benefits! https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4371
And here’s a more plain-language website about urban trees: https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/the-power-of-urban-trees-2023