The scourge that is squash
Wait…so in the comments of the previous post, I’m getting the feeling that you guys suggest I scale back the zucchini a wee bit?
Point taken. I’ll plant one zucchini plant (okay…sow seeds, actually, and thin back to one plant) and give it plenty of space. Ditto for the yellow squash and the acorn squash. And they’ll be positioned on the outside edge as much as possible, so they can spill over to the lawn if need be.
And never fear, the mint will be potted all by its lonesome.
I finally got some time to get the first seeds sown today. Very very exciting. I was going to take a picture, but then I had to rush out to my pilates class (more on that in a minute) and now it’s dark. Picture a box filled with dirt, a fence behind it. There ya go. As stuff actually starts to come up, I promise to be better about the photos.
As for pilates… The only exercise I’ve been able to get with any regularity since Thumper was born has been walking. I do lots and lots of that, but I haven’t had any stretching or strength training of any sort, and I’ve really started to feel it. I’m way out of shape. I don’t look it (or so I like to believe) but I certainly feel it. Weak. Weak. Weak. That c-section really took a toll. I’ve had good intentions of exercising at home, but I’m not very disciplined about that. And so, pilates, which I used to do but it’s been ages. It felt SO good. We’re working one class a week into the schedule and the budget. It’s not much, but combined with the walking and the toddler-wrangling, it’s a start.
I hear ya. That was my exercise of choice pre-baby. I am too struggling with getting back into my schedule, but with work and caring for the monster, it is tough. Good Luck. 🙂
Posted by: Lorraine
You never know with zucchini. Sometimes it just doesn’t grow a lot. I love the stuff, I’d plant lots. 😛 And you can freeze it, grated up, to use in bread in the winter! Oooh, and you can batter and fry the flowers . . .
Posted by: Patti
If you are using it a lot, as I gather you probably are, being a vegetarian, you might want a couple plants, but any more than that and you’ll be leaving them on neighbors’ doorsteps in the middle of the night. 🙂 That’s why August 8th is “Sneak Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors Porch Day”. I was once told by someone that it’s actually a bit of a game in some Italian-American neighborhoods to see how much you can pawn off on neighbors without them knowing who it came from.
I have a good zucchini chocolate bread/cake recipe somewhere… if I can dig it up, I’ll send it along if you want.
Posted by: Jena (the yarn harpy)
Here’s what I do with zucchini, if I can: I plant one hill with three in it, and then another hill about two weeks later. Because when it comes, it COMES, and it does get HUGE much faster than you think it will. But I always get squash borers that make it peter out and die. So then I’ve got another hill coming along to follow up, and usually they get borers, too, but it’s on a different schedule, at least. That’s all providing you have enough room, because YEAH, they do look so little and cute in the beginning, but then they take over. 🙂
Posted by: Norma
Pilates is great. One of my favorite things about it is how even though I felt like a complete weenie when I first started, 3 lessons later I saw improvement and it only got better from there. Seeing substantial progress really kept me motivated!
Norma’s got a good point on the zucchini thing, though I don’t know if squash borers live out west. It would be a wonderful thing if they didn’t – I may have to go look that up right now.
Posted by: no-blog-rachel
Good job on the pilates. Stretching is SO important, and I also need to do more of it.
Posted by: claudia
I hear ya. That was my exercise of choice pre-baby. I am too struggling with getting back into my schedule, but with work and caring for the monster, it is tough. Good Luck. 🙂
Posted by: Lorraine
You never know with zucchini. Sometimes it just doesn’t grow a lot. I love the stuff, I’d plant lots. 😛 And you can freeze it, grated up, to use in bread in the winter! Oooh, and you can batter and fry the flowers . . .
Posted by: Patti
If you are using it a lot, as I gather you probably are, being a vegetarian, you might want a couple plants, but any more than that and you’ll be leaving them on neighbors’ doorsteps in the middle of the night. 🙂 That’s why August 8th is “Sneak Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors Porch Day”. I was once told by someone that it’s actually a bit of a game in some Italian-American neighborhoods to see how much you can pawn off on neighbors without them knowing who it came from.
I have a good zucchini chocolate bread/cake recipe somewhere… if I can dig it up, I’ll send it along if you want.
Posted by: Jena (the yarn harpy)
Here’s what I do with zucchini, if I can: I plant one hill with three in it, and then another hill about two weeks later. Because when it comes, it COMES, and it does get HUGE much faster than you think it will. But I always get squash borers that make it peter out and die. So then I’ve got another hill coming along to follow up, and usually they get borers, too, but it’s on a different schedule, at least. That’s all providing you have enough room, because YEAH, they do look so little and cute in the beginning, but then they take over. 🙂
Posted by: Norma
Pilates is great. One of my favorite things about it is how even though I felt like a complete weenie when I first started, 3 lessons later I saw improvement and it only got better from there. Seeing substantial progress really kept me motivated!
Norma’s got a good point on the zucchini thing, though I don’t know if squash borers live out west. It would be a wonderful thing if they didn’t – I may have to go look that up right now.
Posted by: no-blog-rachel
Good job on the pilates. Stretching is SO important, and I also need to do more of it.
Posted by: claudia
I love pilates as well! I’ve always prefered it to yoga because I’m not so much into the meditation aspects of yoga (although I wish I was), and I like that pilates involves some physical suffering (in a good way) and quick results. I’m lucky that we have good classes at our campus gym so it’s much cheaper than a regular studio. Be careful with the veggies – you don’t want to have so many that you’re sneaking around at night dropping extras on your neighbors’ porches!
Posted by: Emily
Squash,zuchini,melons, cucumbers in general are planted in hills (and I do it literally) with multiple plants in each hill, 3 to 4 plants. Some seeds germinate well and you might need to thin, but do leave 3 to a hill. I use my mother’s hoe to space the hills. Blade in the center of a hill, drop the hoe, endof the handle marks the next hill. It looks ridiculous in May … it looks like a jungle by July. Yes we have a real garden for these veggies … but we do have raised beds for smaller crops around the house.
As a previous comment stated, a rotten little moth lays its eggs, they hatch and the little varmint drills inside and sucks the life out of the plant. When you see a lot of wilt and water isn’t the problem, I yank them out and destroy them. Then there are the squash bugs … bucket with 2 inches of soapy water (dish washing detergent and a jigger of mouth wash). I pick off the adults and throw them in the bucket, pour or spray the soapy water on the egg clusters and the same with the nymphs. Use your fingers to destroy the egg clusters and the nymphs. The adults will hide in mulch and leaves at the base. If you pour water, soapy or clear … they run for it and will often climb to the end of the leaves or bolt across the ground. They can fly but if you get them wet they tend to run not use their wings.
I also agree that it is hard to anticipate the crop. One year I thought I under planted … I gave it away until people locked their doors. Other years I will loose the plants quickly. Staggering crops with a 2-3 even 4 week planting cycle will likely allow you to replace aging plants.
I start them 4 inch pots and transplant to the hill initially. Sometimes replacements go straight in the the hill.
Oh, I live in central NC, so we get a lot of hot sunny weather in the summer …. along with a lot of hungry bugs. Last year’s drought, we actually had a very good crop because we only hand watered as needed. Apparently not getting drowned in torrential downpours allowed the plants to produce longer and better. Also note we do compost with grass clippings but use commercial available fertilizers. Composting and Raised Hills will help with drainage. Most garden annuals do not like living in a swamp. Their roots have to breathe or they rot.
Sorry for the long run on … and I don’t know how it will apply to the Pacific NW, but read around and ask local gardeners who have lived and grown locally more than 5 years. I have lived in NC all my life and have a ‘feel’ for what to grow, where to grow it and how to grow it. Sometimes people in the neighborhood have laughed at my mom & me, but we have learned from experience how to make it work for where we live. It may take several seasons to grasp how weather and growing conditions vary.
Oh, and have fun too. I am looking forward to Thumper barefoot in overalls holding a giant Zuch (ie : courgette) !!
Happy Planting
Mary Ann
ex-babysitter
Posted by: M
After my first c-section, pilates was the only way I could get my abdominal strength back. It seems like after you have kids it is so hard to fit the workouts in. There are just so many things to do in a day. Like you, I worked out before I had my kids. Now, I’m sort of a shameful slug about it. Good luck with your garden!
Posted by: Kathy
Well, I know nothing about planting and growing zucchini (but a lot about eating them – can’t be Italian and not eat zucchini) but this all issue of how much they grow reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver ‘Animal Vegetable Miracle’- she has a whole chapter about zucchini’s growth (apparently where she now lives the zucchini season is the only time during the year when people lock the doors of their homes and cars in fear that they might be given bags of zucchini…). If you have the time….an interesting book to read…plus with lots of recipes re zucchini!
p.s. thank you for referring to Tassajara Bread – have bought the book and made bread and for the first time ever, it actually worked! lovely bread, lovely book.
Posted by: barbara
I’ll second the “more than one zucchini” suggestions. I’m in Boise, ID and we get the moths/bugs here. I’ve had them take out one hill, but leave another one next to it completely alone. I also have sheep and even they will get tired of zucchini by the end of the summer.
I read a blog last year where someone who was new to gardening was planting about 20 tomato plants and 20 zucchini and I wish I could remember who it was so I could read her posts from the end of the summer!
Iyengar Yoga is a good physical workout without the meditation aspects if there is a yoga center near you.
Posted by: Lynn
I love pilates as well! I’ve always prefered it to yoga because I’m not so much into the meditation aspects of yoga (although I wish I was), and I like that pilates involves some physical suffering (in a good way) and quick results. I’m lucky that we have good classes at our campus gym so it’s much cheaper than a regular studio. Be careful with the veggies – you don’t want to have so many that you’re sneaking around at night dropping extras on your neighbors’ porches!
Posted by: Emily
Squash,zuchini,melons, cucumbers in general are planted in hills (and I do it literally) with multiple plants in each hill, 3 to 4 plants. Some seeds germinate well and you might need to thin, but do leave 3 to a hill. I use my mother’s hoe to space the hills. Blade in the center of a hill, drop the hoe, endof the handle marks the next hill. It looks ridiculous in May … it looks like a jungle by July. Yes we have a real garden for these veggies … but we do have raised beds for smaller crops around the house.
As a previous comment stated, a rotten little moth lays its eggs, they hatch and the little varmint drills inside and sucks the life out of the plant. When you see a lot of wilt and water isn’t the problem, I yank them out and destroy them. Then there are the squash bugs … bucket with 2 inches of soapy water (dish washing detergent and a jigger of mouth wash). I pick off the adults and throw them in the bucket, pour or spray the soapy water on the egg clusters and the same with the nymphs. Use your fingers to destroy the egg clusters and the nymphs. The adults will hide in mulch and leaves at the base. If you pour water, soapy or clear … they run for it and will often climb to the end of the leaves or bolt across the ground. They can fly but if you get them wet they tend to run not use their wings.
I also agree that it is hard to anticipate the crop. One year I thought I under planted … I gave it away until people locked their doors. Other years I will loose the plants quickly. Staggering crops with a 2-3 even 4 week planting cycle will likely allow you to replace aging plants.
I start them 4 inch pots and transplant to the hill initially. Sometimes replacements go straight in the the hill.
Oh, I live in central NC, so we get a lot of hot sunny weather in the summer …. along with a lot of hungry bugs. Last year’s drought, we actually had a very good crop because we only hand watered as needed. Apparently not getting drowned in torrential downpours allowed the plants to produce longer and better. Also note we do compost with grass clippings but use commercial available fertilizers. Composting and Raised Hills will help with drainage. Most garden annuals do not like living in a swamp. Their roots have to breathe or they rot.
Sorry for the long run on … and I don’t know how it will apply to the Pacific NW, but read around and ask local gardeners who have lived and grown locally more than 5 years. I have lived in NC all my life and have a ‘feel’ for what to grow, where to grow it and how to grow it. Sometimes people in the neighborhood have laughed at my mom & me, but we have learned from experience how to make it work for where we live. It may take several seasons to grasp how weather and growing conditions vary.
Oh, and have fun too. I am looking forward to Thumper barefoot in overalls holding a giant Zuch (ie : courgette) !!
Happy Planting
Mary Ann
ex-babysitter
Posted by: M
After my first c-section, pilates was the only way I could get my abdominal strength back. It seems like after you have kids it is so hard to fit the workouts in. There are just so many things to do in a day. Like you, I worked out before I had my kids. Now, I’m sort of a shameful slug about it. Good luck with your garden!
Posted by: Kathy
Well, I know nothing about planting and growing zucchini (but a lot about eating them – can’t be Italian and not eat zucchini) but this all issue of how much they grow reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver ‘Animal Vegetable Miracle’- she has a whole chapter about zucchini’s growth (apparently where she now lives the zucchini season is the only time during the year when people lock the doors of their homes and cars in fear that they might be given bags of zucchini…). If you have the time….an interesting book to read…plus with lots of recipes re zucchini!
p.s. thank you for referring to Tassajara Bread – have bought the book and made bread and for the first time ever, it actually worked! lovely bread, lovely book.
Posted by: barbara
I’ll second the “more than one zucchini” suggestions. I’m in Boise, ID and we get the moths/bugs here. I’ve had them take out one hill, but leave another one next to it completely alone. I also have sheep and even they will get tired of zucchini by the end of the summer.
I read a blog last year where someone who was new to gardening was planting about 20 tomato plants and 20 zucchini and I wish I could remember who it was so I could read her posts from the end of the summer!
Iyengar Yoga is a good physical workout without the meditation aspects if there is a yoga center near you.
Posted by: Lynn
Random comment:
I think your life is so interesting and different from my own. It’s interesting to hear about your garden and your life. Your blog really expands my world. Just wanted to say thanks.
Posted by: Ginny
My mother always said that the kid wrangling is what kept her in shape…
Posted by: DeLaina
Get Sunset magazine – they publish a Pacific Northwest edition and it is great – gardening articles and tips, recipes, day trips etc all based on the West. Big article on Portland recently
Posted by: Sally
Yeah, you have to be careful lest you become a casualty of the Suburban Zucchini Wars. Stuff is like the zombie armies when it comes in – always another wave.
Posted by: Juno
When those first little squashes show up and they’re so precious, you’ll be tempted to wait and let them get bigger. Don’t. Eat them while they’re tiny and cute. They taste best then, and soon enough you’ll come home after a weekend away, or take your first step into the garden after a hectic week and find one of these monster zucchini lying in wait for you. Once they’ve gotten out of hand, you have to cook them very differently to make them tasty.
I was once flagged down on the road by a stranger and forced to take a brown paper bag full of zucchini. it’s one of the easiest things to grow, so people can get a little carried away with it.
Posted by: lyssa Kaehler
Random comment:
I think your life is so interesting and different from my own. It’s interesting to hear about your garden and your life. Your blog really expands my world. Just wanted to say thanks.
Posted by: Ginny
My mother always said that the kid wrangling is what kept her in shape…
Posted by: DeLaina
Get Sunset magazine – they publish a Pacific Northwest edition and it is great – gardening articles and tips, recipes, day trips etc all based on the West. Big article on Portland recently
Posted by: Sally
Yeah, you have to be careful lest you become a casualty of the Suburban Zucchini Wars. Stuff is like the zombie armies when it comes in – always another wave.
Posted by: Juno
When those first little squashes show up and they’re so precious, you’ll be tempted to wait and let them get bigger. Don’t. Eat them while they’re tiny and cute. They taste best then, and soon enough you’ll come home after a weekend away, or take your first step into the garden after a hectic week and find one of these monster zucchini lying in wait for you. Once they’ve gotten out of hand, you have to cook them very differently to make them tasty.
I was once flagged down on the road by a stranger and forced to take a brown paper bag full of zucchini. it’s one of the easiest things to grow, so people can get a little carried away with it.
Posted by: lyssa Kaehler
Your description of Portland in the spring lured me up there last weekend and it was glorious! Down here in Medford we’re still in for a bit of cold weather before the bulbs really get going, so it was nice to see the crocuses and daffodils going strong. And I think it was daphne you smelled…. smelt? My brother took my dad and I out to Thai food on 23rd and they had daphne on the porch and it was GLORIOUS.
As for the zucchini…. no more than two plants unless you eat a LOT of zucchini. I’ve never had squash borers, but our climate is a little drier than yours. I’ve made the unfettered mint mistake as well. You might definitely consider getting in touch with the local Master Gardener Association; they’ll have a better grasp on the growing situation up there. Good luck!! I am quite jealous of your garden plotting – my studio apartment doesn’t really have any dirt to play in!
Posted by: Melinda
Exercise is a wonderful thing, so glad you can fit in your pilates class. After my shoulder op, I really had to make myself do my exercises because of the pain, but it has paid off. I must do more walking too, I love walking!
Posted by: Marianne
Yup, going by my Pacific Northwest friends’ gardens (in British Columbia), zucchini will go and go and go. Your map is sorta touching; that you think you will be planting some other vegetable in the zukes’ place come fall.
I’m addicted to the pic of Thumper digging snow, I keep coming by to look at it, lol. We are buried in it here in Toronto.
Posted by: Patricia
I’ve been walking around for the last few months saying if I could only have a large stretching rack in my bedroom I’d be really happy…..I know Pilates would be wonderful for me, but the classes here are so expensive.
I am very envious of a vegetable garden. I will eat with my eyes through your blog 🙂
Posted by: Alison
Your description of Portland in the spring lured me up there last weekend and it was glorious! Down here in Medford we’re still in for a bit of cold weather before the bulbs really get going, so it was nice to see the crocuses and daffodils going strong. And I think it was daphne you smelled…. smelt? My brother took my dad and I out to Thai food on 23rd and they had daphne on the porch and it was GLORIOUS.
As for the zucchini…. no more than two plants unless you eat a LOT of zucchini. I’ve never had squash borers, but our climate is a little drier than yours. I’ve made the unfettered mint mistake as well. You might definitely consider getting in touch with the local Master Gardener Association; they’ll have a better grasp on the growing situation up there. Good luck!! I am quite jealous of your garden plotting – my studio apartment doesn’t really have any dirt to play in!
Posted by: Melinda
Exercise is a wonderful thing, so glad you can fit in your pilates class. After my shoulder op, I really had to make myself do my exercises because of the pain, but it has paid off. I must do more walking too, I love walking!
Posted by: Marianne
Yup, going by my Pacific Northwest friends’ gardens (in British Columbia), zucchini will go and go and go. Your map is sorta touching; that you think you will be planting some other vegetable in the zukes’ place come fall.
I’m addicted to the pic of Thumper digging snow, I keep coming by to look at it, lol. We are buried in it here in Toronto.
Posted by: Patricia
I’ve been walking around for the last few months saying if I could only have a large stretching rack in my bedroom I’d be really happy…..I know Pilates would be wonderful for me, but the classes here are so expensive.
I am very envious of a vegetable garden. I will eat with my eyes through your blog 🙂
Posted by: Alison
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