Show Us Your Vegetable Garden Long Views

Happy,
I'm right behind 'yah!

ha! Just picked some an hour ago and I'd let them get too big. So I'm embarrassed to try to even give them away. I like squash; I just can't keep up with it. Two weeks and it's coming out to make room for lettuce!

I'm seeing a little bit of botrytis, what looks like might be blossom end rot?, and squash vine borer might've gotten to them. So maybe they won't make it two weeks.

I'm glad you guys had the discussion about blanching and freezing procedures. I want to make sure that stuff I put in the freezer tastes good when I take it back out!

We just froze nine 10-12 oz. packages of Fingourmet beans; DH and I picked them this morning before it got too hot. I blanched them until they just changed color, which didn't take long because I harvested them very small, and then plunged them into cold water and packaged them. My twelve-year-old granddaughter did the straw trick and we were really pleased with the way it worked out!

We had some of those beans last night at a friend's house; she brought the packet back from France when she went in May, and she planted some, gave me some, and still has a bunch of seeds left over. They are very small and slender - real French filet beans. They cooked them in olive oil with a little red onion for flavor, and they were delicious and crunchy. I'm very glad we got to try them all prepared, because I wasn't at all impressed with the taste nibbling them raw this morning. Fortex and Pelandron have a much beanier flavor raw, which I prefer, but these are lovely for special meals.d

Thanks for the straw tip! I don't use plastic water bottles or plastic in the microwave, so I don't like the idea of heat sealing, and the straws are perfect! Plus, you don't have to buy special bags or other equipment.

We have a ton of squash, too, and I already have enough frozen. Most of mine are too big to give away, too, and my daughter just likes the standard zucchini, not the Ronde de Nice and other odd shapes I'm growing this year. I can always give the extras to the chickens, though.

Sounds like some yummy beans!

All this info about beans and freezing, etc. .... good stuff!

Hey ... perhaps y'all could help me figure on when to harvest my squash!

I have grown zucchini, melons and such, but never winter squash, or golden yellow straightneck summer squash.

Remember, we're talking Buffalo, here.

I have acorn squash ; spaghetti squash ; and what was passed on to me as harvested from some form of winter squash that was "orange and green"

Here is a shot of one of the "spaghetti squash" that doesn't look like any of the others ..... have you ever seen a spaghetti squash like this?

The acorn squash

How long until these guys are pickable?

Summer squash

Golden Yellow Straightneck

These should be picked now?

Garden_gal!
Great to hear a tried & true method is still working! I know your granddaughter had a blast helping out. That's the best part of this whole process -- sharing with others!

OK ..... Now the next few are those "oddball" green and orange winter squash.

I think I read somewhere that when you take seeds from squash, you won't get what you thought you would??

Every plant (of 9 planted) seem to have different squash growing from them.

There is one example .... any idea which squash this might be?

Do I have to wait until a frost to harvest them?

WillieB,
Just based on getting squash from the super, I'd say the yellow crookneck is done. Now, unless that acorn is SUPPOSED to be light green, it 'ain ready, 'cause every acorn I ever got from the super is deep, dark green.

IMHO

Linda

Here is another one .... different from the first. This one climbed up into the apple tree to grow.

Hiding from the squash beetle, no doubt!

I was wondering about that Gymgirl .... I think the acorn will go dark more near fall?? That was what I was hoping anyway

..... and the crookneck I haven't seen at my grocer to take note, but I was thinking .... summer squash you want to get young (before seeds have formed), and winter squash old (after seeds have formed)

Here is another oddball winter squash .....

That's funny .... never looked at it that way! I have "squashed" a couple, but haven't really seen any.

How's this for a funky winter squash?

Willie,
That's a big fig on your fence! I love figs!

LOL ... no .... those aren't figs, unless there is a squash fig .... or is that fig squash!

I'm not sure about winter squash either. I grew Musquée de Provence and it started forming lovely big fruits, but then the SVB got to them and I'm afraid the sole squash that looks the right size is done for. That was the part of the row that doesn't have the silver mulch which is supposed to repel SVBs and squash bugs.

It does look like your yellow crookneck summer squash is more than ready. I tend to let my summer squash get too big because I can't find them in my crowded rows, and it's better to pick them earlier because then you don't get so overwhelmed with produce. On the other hand I do like the occasional very large zucchini or squash for stuffing.

Re freezing, I just got Janet Chadwick's The Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food because someone recommended it to me. I had to buy it from Amazon.ca because Amazon here wanted some incredible amount for it; I don't know if it's out of print, or what. Chadwick says that beans that are frozen unblanched do well and will keep about six months in the freezer. She has a list of other foods that don't really require blanching, either. She describes different methods for preserving various fruits and vegetables and rates them as to ease and also excellence of results. She also has a way of freezing raw cucumbers for winter salads that's like something a friend mentioned and that I had never heard of before.

Does SVB = Squash Vine Borer? I don't know that abbreviation.

Yes. I also have a lot of other names for them but I can't say them here.

I had 2 zukes for supper. This is off my 4th planting this year and I bet I haven't had a dozen to eat all year. And I bet I won't get a dozen more either. I used to be the one leaving sacks of summer squash on the neighbor's doorsteps. I picked the first zuke this morning (it wasn't large) and it had been hiding the evidence of my enemy #1, a SVB. I'm starting more seeds tomorrow.

I have avoided any bad pesticides this year in the hope that if there are any beneficials left in the world that they'll come live here.

Twiggy, when I've tried replanting zucchini after their succumbing to SVBs, the squash bugs get them. It is so frustrating! The silver mulch really does seem to help, though. You should try it.

I have not seen any of those nasties around here yet! (knocking wood) I have been keeping an eye out for them flying about, hoping to keep them from laying eggs around here.

I hear you can do surgery on the stem where the larva is to carefully remove and destroy those bad boys. Once removed you can somehow dress the wound on the stem.

I'll have to find out more info on that.

I'll just have to send you some Buffalo grown zukes, Twiggy!!

WillieB, I have never been able to rescue my zukes with surgery. I'm skeptical about how often that really works!

I wondered if it worked .... I think I remember reading it isn't the easiest trick in the book.

Though, if it is a chronic occurrence, it might be worth practicing to perfect.

I only have a couple dozen or so squash vines, so if I could pull it off, I wouldn't have trouble keeping up, if I had to.

I will do some research on it .... maybe try a trial run on one that is healthy, and see what happens. I have more than I need, so to loose one wouldn't really be all that bad, I suppose.

Here is one of the squash patches where the Acorn (lower left), Spaghetti (on the right and down the path you don't see in picture), and the NOID "green and orange" Winter Squash is all over the back (and on fence). We'll have to wait and see if any of them turn out green and orange.

Also in there is (1) Big Max Pumpkin vine (in the exact center, growing between the Acorn and NOID, and then down the path in this picture) and (6) WAY behind in growth Cantaloupe vines.

Okay, so your melon/squash patch is as much of a jungle as mine. I just spent an hour or so out there yesterday in the broiling sun, with high humidity, pulling weeds in there, and that did help to open things up a bit, but I still can't find anything and because of it my cucumbers are getting too big and so are my squash. I also came upon a small box turtle in flagrante delicto, with its head all the way up into my first ripe cantaloupe! These guys are really shameless!

Greenhouse_gal .... do you write romance novels?

^_^

Sure sounds like she does!

Gal, tells us more, tell us more!!! ^_^

If I did, they wouldn't involve box turtles! But no, that's not one of my talents, alas, since they're very lucrative. Portraits are a lot harder to sell.

I have read recently that you can inject Bt with a syringe weekly to "innoculate" the plants against SVBs. Syringes are readily available at most feed stores or you might be able to get one or 2 from a vet, or someone who's diabetic and gives themselves shots. The worm has to actually ingest the Bt for it to kill them, so you can also try doing it above and below where you suspect the worm to be if you actually have one in your squash vine. Lastly, I've also read that you can inject beneficial nematodes into the vines' stems to kill the SVB. I haven't tried any of those remedies, but I might do that next year.

Dr. Steph,
Do SVBs attach zuchinni as well? This might be a no-brainer, since zuchinni is SQUASH, duh.

Asking, cause I might need to start growing some zuchinni next season for a friend whose zuchinni bread is in high demand. Never grew it before. When's the best time to grow it?

P.S. I don't like zuchinni as a veggie. I find the outer skin to be bitter to my taste...but I DO like it baked and sweet as a bread!

Zucchini was my major introduction to SVBs, Linda. I love zucchini in all forms and am in fact drying some in my dehydrator as we speak, cut into chips and sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning.

Gal,
Put a few chips in a Ziplok baggie. Blow some air into it so they don't crush -- make a potato chip bag. Mail it to me. I'll give 'em one more chance!

Linda

Linda, I have never done this before - someone suggested it on a thread here that asked how to cook squash. So I have no idea how this will work. However, if it does, I can send you a pic of me smiling! I think if I tried to ship you squash chips we'd have the Postmaster General after us.

Leslie

How would the Postmaster General know, hmmmmmmm???

I checked out one of my squash chips to see how they were coming and I think I went too heavily on the Old Bay. I forgot that drying intensifies flavors! They're not crispy yet, though, so I'll see what they're like when they achieve that perfect texture.

Those chips do sound good! Anxious now to hear how they come out!

Here is part of today's bounty .... I did give three of each away before I snapped this.

The chips are good but next time I'll go easier on the Old Bay. They're very interesting, though!

Your squash are just lovely! That's a real harvest you've got there.

Nice squash harvest! I like mine sauted in olive oil with garlic, onions, and whatever other herbs or spices I think of to throw in.

I like how the yellow crooknecks look like ducks.

I put some of the yellow summer squash in my "Three Potato" potato salad. Fresh from the plant, de-seeded and cut up small. Very sweet.

I have found out that those in the picture here are 'Cream of the Crop' Acorn Squash, which is white when harvested.

I am also finding out that they are supposed to be 2 - 3 pounds around harvest time. I wonder how heavy they will have grown by the end of September, which I am guessing is about the earliest harvest time for them ..... still trying to find out more ........

Did you tuck the basil in there because of space constraints, or was there another reason for it? I'm interested in learning as much as I can about companion gardening, so if it's related to that, I'd be happy to hear the reasoning.

I always grow way too many basil seedlings, so I usually end up planting them anywhere there happens to be space, regardless of what is eventually going to creep all over.

Here it the freshly planted squash patch around June 15th.

The closest, big stuff (bottom left) is winter squash.
The exact middle is Big Max Pumpkin
The farthest center is Spaghetti squash
The farthest right is the acorn squash (near the stake)

You can see two rows of basil (Mammoth up the back row, and Aroma2 down the front). These are leftover basil seedlings I had growing the greenhouse all winter.

I like to use basil as an edging / border plant, since I am always cutting it back.