September 8, 2016

Good morning, This year I was given a new winter squash variety to try. It was not a good year to evaluate its performance. It was late some time in May or June before I got the seeds sown. By comparison I sow my butternuts around the first of March.

About the time that they matured, There was a huge cucumber beetle outbreak and then July was so hot and dry both this squash and my butternuts aborted most of their flowers and young immature squash.

When the rain started I did get a feel for the aggressive growth capabilities of this squash. It needs a lot more room than what the butternuts need.

Since I do have drip out in the orchard (or at least what is left of it), I can try it there and it can grow to its hearts content.

The squash is a pretty squash, More round in shape. Because the skin is edible I do not think that it will have the store-ability of my butternuts. I am going to keep a couple hanging around just to see how they fare.

I did notice that this squash is very attractive to cucumber beetles. When I uncovered it to get pollinated, I felt that every cucumber beetle in the garden was drawn to this squash. This could be beneficial as a trap crop. I could start this plant a little earlier than the other cucurbits that I plant and use it to get the beetles in control before I uncover the other plants. I used to think that yellow squash was a draw but it is nothing like this new squash.

As a note on the side I am getting peas to set and there are several pods that are getting real fat. It looks like the guineas have not discovered them and I may have some to try next summer. This could be interesting.

A new veggie that I am growing this year is actually for the fowl. It is a forage turnip. The reason for this is that they are very high in protein. Since there are no bugs in the winter the fowl crave protein. Winter is the time of year that we find that we have egg eaters, they crave protein. Well we will see how this works. 

I expect to harvest chard, kale , green onions, carrots, summer squash, okra, cucumbers, beans, chilies, and tomatoes. From storage I have sweet potatoes, butternuts, onions and garlic.