Squash

Just One Butternut

| Flower Roberts

It happens every summer without fail. One appears in my garden from the place where I buried compost. If more show up, they are removed. It takes just one you see.

Butternut on the move.
Butternut hanging around in the garden.

That one butternut vine winds its way around the garden, over and under the fences. It will not be contained.

Its gorgeous leaves hide its treasures. First they are a lovely green. Then they ripen to a color I call babydoll beige.

This year’s haul from one butternut.

That is when they are ready to be removed. We harvest all the butternut squash and haul away the massive vine, about the time of the equinox.


We store our stash in a cool, dry place. These are the winter’s vitamins and sunshine soups. All from one butternut.

FLOWER  is still trapped on the deck and using a walker.

RAILING ARRIVES TOMORROW!

Stay tuned.

There’s a New Bug in Town

| Flower Roberts

I finally hobbled down to my vegetable garden. I wanted to investigate what was ravishing the zuchinni leaves.


This was not the usual culprit. Instead of finding the golden eggs of the squash bugs, I found a cluster of yellow eggs.
I hoped these were ladybug eggs, so I left them.

Squash lady beetle eggs


Then I saw things that looked like corn kernels with whiskers hooked on to the leaves like ticks on a dog. These were not moving, so if they had eaten the holes in the leaves, they were finished.


I did find elongated, yellow, spiky larvae which moved quickly to get away.


This is my first infestation with these whiskered- corn critters. I am a pesterer of pests, so finding any new insect is of interest.


I fear I should not have let that volunteer butternut squash vine take over my small garden.

Big ole butternut squash vine


The shade and lack of airflow cannot be a good thing.
There is a lot going on in my tiny plot. Stay tuned for birds, butterflies, snakes, squash and pumpkins.

FLOW