It’s that time of year again. The time when I wait too long to plant my cool weather garden. I then wait too long to plant my warmer garden. All of that comes after I’ve already forgotten to amend the soil properly for the particular plants I want to grow. But hey, every year’s a new year. Even though I should have already sown my first round of carrots, radishes, lettuce and peas, I can still get them in a little late. And there’s always Fall and early Winter.
My biggest goal this year is to get a harvest of winter squash off the vine and onto my plate. Last year’s crop was absolutely decimated by squash bugs. I had amazing plants with beautiful leaves but I let the squash bugs get established. They destroyed everything. It’s hard to see vibrant plants start to put out fruit only to see everything killed by little vine-boring punks.
I’m determined that this year will be different. I plan on putting in fewer plants and defending them to the death against the insidious squash but. There are lots of great ideas in books and on the internet of ways to kill or deter them organically (the only way I grow food plants). One can try Castile soap sprays, diatomaceous earth, row covers, traps, companion plants, oils and others. I’m willing to try them all. The ultimate, of course, would be to design a garden defense system that uses computer vision and laser beams to blast bugs. I might need to put a little more thought into that one.
I love Kabocha, Acorn, Delicata and Spaghetti squash. I’d love them even more if they came from my garden rather than the store’s shelves. With a little care and attention, along with a healthy dose of bug violence, I might be able to make it happen this year. Now I just have to go put it all on the calendar so I don’t forget to actually do it.