Expanding the garden and improving clay soil

Tips, Tricks

1. @mhpgardener I'm all out of my standard cuke seeds after planting twice and having them get eaten :( If these ones fail I'll get some more and give them a shot. Otherwise I'll just leave them as they are and make sure I save some seed for next season :)
2. @dalecalder2003 I wasted a lot of space last spring / summer. I was using a modified version of square foot gardening. I sectioned off my beds into 1/2 meter squares. By planting in the middle of each square I limited the amount of plants I could fit in each bed. This time I started planting closer to the edges and spaced accordingly from there. I didn't measure the spacing I just "guesstimated" what I thought would be good spacing, lol
3. Have you considered planting cuke seeds, as opposed to transplants?. They come up in just a few days. For some reason or other, cucurbits just don't transplant as well as other crops. The red clay looks familiar, got plenty of it around here. Doing my best to get it fixed up, a little at a time.
4. love your bed setup.. looks great! did the cucumbers get sunburn by chance , you can just pinch off the bad looking leaves and see how it does after that.. this works for some plants , worth a try..:)
5. @Watsamadoing The first time they were completely eaten off at ground level. This time around they were all wilted. It really sucks because last year I got so many cucumbers we were able to give them to all our neighbours and still have loads left for ourselves this year I'm down to 1 plant and it's not even the same type as the ones we had last year :(
6. @redcrystal69 Good idea, I did that last year with some plants. I should do it again :)
7. Good score on the mesh for the trellis... Looks like you had a fun day.. Shame about not catching any slugs... Have a good one...
8. Maybe try a large bottle over your plants? I do that when things are getting to the vulnerable seedlings. Looking great though! Well done. 
9. The mystery continues, fingers crossed for better luck with the new cucumbers. Your garden is looking great I like the way you space everything out, I've gardened for a lifetime and I still plant things too close together . 
10. Lookin good matey!! That trellis will be good and strong to get those climbers hanging off it. Not sure what's up with your cuc's but it sorta doesn't look like bugs does it... are they crispy and dry or just wilted? perhaps you have something underground? I have an area that has HEAPS of what look like baby centipedes but they live underground.. i'm sure they are eating the roots. I can't find them on the net to know what they are yet.. good luck with the new cuc's :)