This is one of the hardest hits to take because it happens so quickly.
In the morning, the Zucchini can look absolutely beautiful... Green, Vibrant, Thriving...
AND,
by afternoon, it can look like this:
...Collapsing.
Whatever climate conditions conspired to give us a Bumper Crop of Strawberries also produced a bumper crop of Squash Bugs.
Over the last 3 seasons, we have adopted several "No Chemical" strategies to deal with these pests.
These methods have been based on more efficient and more effective hand picking,
including this:
We began spotting the Squash Bugs about a month ago, and waged a daily battle, picking off bugs and eliminating eggs, and until yesterday, felt we were winning.
The is hard to accept because the collapse happens so fast, even after all the daily work.
Oh Well.
We DID manage to harvest several good Zucchinis before this happened, and we have one plant still standing, so its not a total loss yet.
We are learning as we go, and still researching ways to deal with this.
It appears that THIS damage could be from the Squash Vine Borer, which is a moth larvae that bores its way into the hollow Zucchini stems, and then grows inside the stem, consuming the Zucchini plant from the inside out.... (Evil Bastards!!!)
One of our friends from this area who also practices "no chemical" gardening told us that he only plants Zucchini AFTER mid-July. He says that by
late planting, he avoids the seasonal
Larval Stage of the Vine Borer.
That makes sense to us, and we will plant Zucchini again in July along with several other 2nd Plantings, including Tomatoes.
The good news is that almost everything else is doing well, despite the lack of rain and unseasonable high heat.
BTW:
That structure in the background of the top photo is the
Tater Tower.
This is our first year growing Potatoes.
We are using the
Chicken Wire/Hay method...adding hay in layers and letting the vines grow up through the hay. In theory, potatoes will form under the layers of hay, making them much easier to
"dig out". I am excited by the results so far, though
Starkraven keeps warning me not to
"Count my Taters before they hatch".The potatoes in the
Tater Tower are
Yukon Golds.
I also noticed some young potato plants growing in our our
Winter compost pile, so we started adding layers of hay to that one too.
I think those are
Red Potatoes that got
too ripe last Winter. We threw them on the
Winter compost pile which we covered with hay in early Spring.
Maybe we will get some
Red Potatoes too, though I am heeding
Starkraven's advice.
Happy Summer Solstice to all of our friends here!
We will be dancing naked in the Garden Moonlight tonight...
.
.
.
.
well, maybe not
Totally Nekked.....but in spirit!
Despite the 105 Heat Index, we picked enough wild Blackberries today to make some preserves.
Starkraven just brought me some of the
still hot Jam to sample, ....and YUM!~