AngelsGarden's Blog
AngelsGarden's posts about: zucchini
Jun 25, 2007 | 7:34 AM PST
Tags: Atlantic Giant Pumpkin , Leaf-footed Bugs , Squash Vine Borers , Watermelon , Squash Vine Borer Larvae , Chickens , zucchini
This poor thing. It was just not destined for greatness this time around. The pumpkin hadn't grown in quite awhile so we decided to clean it out of the circular bed. Besides the watermelon was begging for more room.
When I started pulling it out I was surprised at how brittle it was. One of the first pieces I pulled up broke open right where there was this large (I'm assuming) Squash bug larvae. Gross!!!
I'm not sure how much damage overall the Leaf-footed bugs are responsible for, versus the Squash Vine Borers.
I had seen one of these in one of the zucchini plants that I had pulled up for the same reason, but it had been smaller.
When I looked at the pumpkin the stem, all of the way up to the pumpkin was full of holes along the inside of the stem and there was a big mushy spot were it had been sitting on the ground. It also had a wound that was an orangeish color.
That wound had me wondering if there was a bug in there too, because of the shape and color. So, I dug around in there with the scissors. Lo and behold...another gross larvae!
Very disgusting! I will be doing research and deciding how I will try to get a Giant Pumpkin without this happening again. I have not given up!!! This has all been very interesting to me. And now the watermelon has room to breath.
So, the chickens were pretty happy sat. night, they had a late evening snack of giant pumpkin with squash bug larvae on top.
Jun 22, 2007 | 7:52 AM PST
Tags: grass , compost , zucchini , leaf footed bugs , squash borers , mowing
Wed. evening I was able to get out into the garden and get 4 buckets of the bane of my garden removed...GRASS. I had to use the pitch fork to loosen the soil so I could get the runners from under the soil. When we tilled it early this spring to add the rabbit manure we didn't remove all of this grass first. Now it is all coming back from all of the little pieces that were chopped up and are now under the soil. I am lucky in the fact that my 5 yr old is a gardener to the bone like me, she loves and begs to help when I am doing things like that. I would show here were to put the pitch fork and she would get on and rock side to side to get it down in the soil. She doesn't weigh much but she is determined. Then we would pull it back to loosen the area where we wanted to work. Its nice to have someone around that enjoys gardening like I do, even the weeding. Its still satisfying to get it removed, even if it is just pulling grass. I got a good area cleared out and hope to get the rest done by the end of the weekend.
After all of the grass is removed I will be planting where needed. I will remove all Zucc. plants as they have been too damaged by the leaf footed bugs and squash borers. I need to get a list together of all that I will be planting. I just picked up some more seeds last week that are clearanced because its summer now.
Last night I mowed the back yard. It had gotten kind of tall because of all the rain we have had lately. Its been good for the garden though, I haven't had to water the garden in quit awhile. I used the bagger on the mower and put some of the clippings in the compost, its getting pretty damp though. I spread the rest of them around in different places along fences and such where it will help to keep down weeds and or grass. I am doing much better this year with keeping the yard mowed. At least I don't have scruffy, leather faced guys coming to the door asking to mow the yard yet this year. LOL
Jun 14, 2007 | 3:55 PM PST
Tags: grass , weeding , herbicide , pole beans , zucchini , weather
We are going into the hotter part of the summer. It has been over 90 and up to 100 for the last couple of weeks. At this point in my garden most of the work that needs done is just weeding. Over the last few days I have been trying to eradicate, at least to some degree, the grass that is taking over. Even where I put down newspapers and mulch there is this nightmare type of grass that is growing by leaps and bounds. It spreads under and above ground by runners. When I try to pull it I have to be very careful or it will break inbetween the nodes where it has put down roots. I have tried just spraying vinegar on it. The grass just laughs, "I will conquer!", it says. The only solution seems to be the Chair and Pitch Fork method. I loosen the soil and meticulously remove as many root and runner pieces as possible. We have had frequent afternoon showers lately so the soil is cooperative with this method. I will continue to work on this problem, I think that if I make sure that I clean really good this fall also and don't let it get out of hand this winter that will make a big difference for the next summer growing season. Something for everyone to remember....IF YOU HAVE WEED OR GRASS THAT SPREADS BY RUNNERS OR CURRENTLY HAS SEEDS, USING A TILLER IN THAT AREA WILL ONLY MULTIPLY YOUR PROBLEMS LATER. Planing ahead would have saved me at least some of this headache. I could have sprayed with an herbicide that is stronger, right now I wouldn't because of all of the veggies growing. At least now the side affects from my heart medication have leveled off and I have more energy to get out there and tackle this problem.
The green and purple pole beans are doing great. Especially the purple, this morning I harvested a gallon size zip-lock bag full. I also got my first zucchini!
