Katxena's Lemon Squash
Cucurbita pepo var. pepo

I ripped this squash out of the ground last night, and chopped up the pieces to go out with the yard waste. It broke my heart.

All the remaining squash were soft and squishy, and the leaves were covered with powdery mildew. I’m assuming that the plant was so damaged from the SVB that it couldn’t fight the powdery mildew, even after applications of baking soda.

I put it out with the yard waste rather than composting it because of the disease and pest issues.

I’m not going to grow squash next year. I really can’t justify the space it takes up, not when I can buy it fairly cheaply at the farmers market. I’m going to miss it though. I’ve really enjoyed this plant.

I took 3 squash vine borer larva out of this plant today, following Mel Bartholomew’s directions. There’s only one stem left that has not been infested. None of my companion planting tricks (chives, letting one radish go to seed, herbs in containers) seem to have had any deterrent effect on them.

Hopefully I can keep the plant growing for long enough to harvest the fruit that currently remain – about 7 immature squash are on the plant right now. But I doubt that I will manage to get many more than that.

The seed packet said that this squash is the “shape, size and color” of a lemon. I guess they weren’t kidding! I have 3-4 squash this size that I’m going to harvest tonight and cook up with dinner!

This enormously huge plant pulled itself over. The largest stem broke, which is a serious bummer because it has several tiny squashes on it.

So I did what any good gardener would do. I drove a stake into the ground, ripped up an old shirt of my husband’s, and tied up the stem. Then for insurance, I tied the stake to the fence just to make counterbalance the weight.

It’s not the nicest looking arrangement, but hopefully it will save my little squashes!!!

This plant is huge. HUGE. And beautiful. I love this plant. I’ve decided to not grow squash in the future, so I’m loving this one even more, knowing that it’s probably the last one I’ll grow for a while.