2015 Winter Squash

My goodness, it has been a long time since I posted. I need to rectify that!

As some of you know, I have a "thing" for winter squash. (Flash of insight: I have a "thing" for many plants!)  Winter squash is tasty, is the "go to" squash for "pumpkin" pies, is delicious in a curried squash soup and I just love them.

This year, I again grew the old standby, Waltham butternut. This tried and true heirloom is tasty, prolific and has hard stems that make it almost impossible for the squash vine borer to create havoc.  I got a dozen fruits, at least, off of one plant, and it kept pumping them out until fairly recently (too late for some of them to mature, though).  I grew three new squash this year: Gold Nugget (the small, orange one on the left); Galeux d'Eysines (called a "peanut squash) in the center and: Futsu Black (the smaller, warty ones).  None were as prolific as the Waltham, though the Gold Nugget came close.  All these squash have dry flesh, which I prefer, as I believe it tastes better and is easier to cook.  And the Galeux and Futsu are cool looking, too.   The Galeux only produced two large squash, as did the Futsu, but they were fun to grow.

There are two pests that give me the most trouble with the curcubits, the squash vine borer and the cucumber beetle (the borer kills the plant from inside the stem, the cucumber beetle spreads a wilting virus).  This year, I tried a new "barrier" method to deal with them (used this for my cucumbers too, and got a great harvest):  I kept the plants coated with Surround (trademark), a finely ground, Kaolin clay.  You mix it up in a sprayer and spray the plants.  Cucumber beetles, and the moth that lays the vine borer eggs, must not like the gritty texture, and they avoid the plants.  The downside is that Surround will wash off in a heavy rain and must be reapplied.

Oh, I got all these seeds through Pinetree Garden Seeds,Pinetree Garden Seeds

Happy gardening!

Cucumber Beetles and Squash Vine Borers

(Not all my garden is yet in framed, raised beds).

Cucumber beetles and squash vine borers are menaces to cucumber and squash plants.

Right now, my cucumbers are still under a floating row cover, to protect them from

cucumber beetles.  But my zucchini and squash plants are too larger to cover.  The photo

above shows two strategies: first, note the whitish color of the leaves?  This is because I

sprayed the plants with Surround (trademarked,) a fine-milked kaolin clay that is mixed 

with water and sprayed on the entire plant.  Vine borer moths, squash beetles and other bugs

seem to dislike the gritty surface, so it acts as a barrier to their egg laying.  Surround

washes off in the rain and must be reapplied.  The yellow cards hanging from stakes are 

coated with Tangle Trap, similar to the sticky gunk on fly paper.  It comes in a can with a built

in brush lid to ease application.  Cucumber beetles, which transmit wilt (and are more bother-

some to cucumbers than zucchini, but harm it too) are attracted to the color yellow, stick and die.  

When my cucumbers are uncovered, I will put some of these yellow traps in that bed, too.  I 

will monitor the traps to make sure no bees are caught, and, if they are, down will come the

traps.

Happy gardening!

Waltham butternut and the dreaded "vacation zucchini"

I have been casting about for a winter squash that is productive, and fights back when squash vine borers attack. I searched for a winter squash that was resistant to squash vine borers and settled for the old-time favorite, Waltham butternut.  Apparently, any squash with harder stems is more resistant to these pests, the plague of squash growers everywhere.  I planted my butternuts late (apparently a no-no: early planting helps foil these beasties) and they began producing the beautiful fruits you see here.  The plants did finally get borers, but I used a garden syringe to inject BT (a bacteria that only kills caterpillars who munch on it) and the plants are still out-growing the borer damage.  I also will mound soil over various parts of the stem to encourage it to root, and I think I may get some more squash from these babies (this is from 2 plants).
Also pictured, the gardener's embarassment: vacation zucchini.  If you go away during the summer, have a neighbor pick your zucchini!  Large ones like these can be shredded and frozen for winter soups and stews.  If they have sizeable seeds, core them to remove the seeds before you shred them.  If they get woody, it is time for the compost heap!
Happy gardening!