I wish the bees would chase the squash-bugs away...
If you are in a part of the country that doesn’t have or isn’t besieged by squash bugs, thank your lucky garden stars because they are hellish little creatures. Anyone who says “Oh, that’s not hard, you just…” either is using a crop-dusters’ worth of hard-core pesticides or has not attempted to get an organic squash through the multiple-generation gauntlet of squash bugs we face here in the south and the viruses the nasty rascals carry. And don’t forget the squash borers. Many folks around here, both organic and not, have just given up on summer squash. Here at Larrapin, the whole zucchini-glut is a memory from years past.
This post is part of the “Things going well and…things to do better” series. As for squash bugs, THEY are doing well, which means I’m going to have to do better if I want the piles of squash from years past. But I will not be deterred! My plans for next year include:
THE 2012 SQUASH STRATEGY:
1. Focus on Winter Squash, which are more resistant:
I’m crazy in love with butternuts. Our favorite and easy way to prepare them is roasted with honey and cinnamon. You slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out all the seeds. Place the two halves face down in a large baking dish with about a half inch of water in the bottom of the dish. Bake on 350 till very tender, usually about 40 min. Then put face up on your plate and doll it up with some butter, honey or brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yum! You can also cook it the same way in the microwave for about 10 minutes, but it’s not as good. That is unless you then put it face down on the grill for a few minutes while the steaks cook! Now that is delicious!
Anyway, butternuts and most winter squash are pretty resistant to borers, but only somewhat resistant to squash bugs. So I’m going to use vertical high trellis combined with a bug-unfriendly* ground cover with the irrigation lines run underneath. I’m planning on weed fabric but my friend richard uses sheet of old tin with great results. (*Squash bugs like to hide in mulch, especially straw. Since finding the squash bugs is critical to eliminating them, deep mulch has become a no-no for this crop.)
Oh how me and the bees love squash...but for different reasons!
2. Try Neem and other organic controls I haven’t tried yet…
I also just read in Mother Earth News that Neem oil is effective. I have to be SO careful with anything used on the squash because the squash blossom seem to the bees favorite thing on earth and the flowers are buzzing with estatic bees every morning. So any spray has to be done very carefully, avoiding blossoms, in the evening and dry by morning. I thought Neem worked primarily by making bugs that ingest it not want to eat, thus your plants are spared, so I understand. I’m not quite sure how it works on squash bugs but I’m doing more research. The article was by Barbara Pleasant, one of my garden she-roes so I’m very interested. Diotemaceous earth works (only) on the nymph stage apparently, so it’s limited. Still doing research on options…
3. Squisher boards!!
I’m planning on squisher-boards. Yes, as gross as it sounds, but I’m on a rampage. Handpicking bugs and eggs is the tried and true method. When the squash were small I was relentless early this year and it was successful before the vines got so big I couldn’t reach the bugs. I would water the base of the plant which would bring the bugs up to leaves, then, the gloved left hand of the squash-avenging goddess would send them on to their next life! But The bug picking is kind of gross even with a glove, so a squisher board is quicker. Take two pieces of board say a foot to foot and half lengths of 1x 4 and put a lengthwise hinge. Lay face down near the squash. In the morning, bugs will be gathered on the cool, damp surface. Pick up and smack the boards together and you get a bunch of them!! Now I wonder if the aftermath of squished bugs doesn’t run off future victims? Will try to find out more.
4. Chicken tractoring the garden beds!
Stay tuned and I’ll tell you more about this soon… Total Tangent: I’m so excited that one of my favorite homesteaders Harvey Ussery is coming out with The Small-Scale Poultry Flock An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers in September!! I saw a preview in Backyard Poultry magazine and I will be pre-ordering this book. He is using the system I love and use: working chix for composting and garden cultivating and more. Can’t wait to see how he does it!! One tip I already love: growing hyacinth bean over a chicken run to provide summer shade!! Ok, back to squash!
Squash on cattle-panel trellis (Online photo: Source Unknown)
5. Follow the lead of my mentors Richard “cattle-panel & tin-man” and Jennifer the high-trellis builder..
The most effective change I think is going to be the high trellis plan. Getting the squash up off the ground is huge because it gives the bugs fewer places to hide. My friend Richard has also pioneered this. He grows his squash on top on cattle panels which are elevated about knee high off the ground via cinder block set on end. The ground underneath is covered with old barn tin. And he’s winning.
I have less space to work with, so I’m going with high trellis of arched cattle panels that will cover the walkway. I’ll grow butternuts and other squash this way. I understand butternuts don’t need a ‘sling’ but the melons I plan to go vertical will. Pantyhose or old t-shirt work I’m told. We had one watermelon to slip out of it’s sling one year when I grew them up a fence, so I will attend carefully to slings! The squash just grow thicker stems and seem to be able to support their own weight.
So there you have it. My squash hopes and dreams for next year. We did get some squash this year, but not nearly enough and they won’t store well due to bug damage…so next year, gonna do better!! What are YOUR organic techniques for growing squash??
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends; exceptions, sometimes long ones, or like today’s post on a amonday, do occur. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
Posts most wednesdays & weekends; exceptions, sometimes long ones, or like today’s post on a amonday, do occur. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
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This just in from our friend Constance over at the Larrapin Facebook page:
“My favorite/best Organic Squash Strategy is companion planting my squash with onions. It really works wonders. This year I also planted my summer squash in the same bed where I have my garlic, which seemed to make a difference. I actually got enough squash to exhaust my family’s interest before the bugs took over.”
http://www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden
Thanks for that great tip. I’m adding this to the manifesto!
Leigh