Squash and Zucchini Under Attack

Squash vine borers are active now. You rarely see the small red and black moth who lays her eggs on the stem of the squash near the soil line. The larvae hatch and bore into the stem and proceed the eat their way up the stem on the inside. If you catch them early you can slit the stem with a sharp knife and poke it up in the stem to kill the worm.
We have been seeing and removing squash lady beetles for a couple of weeks now. If you do this consistently they are not that much of a problem.

Just in the past few days we have started seeing the eggs of the squash bug. They are shiny and bronze in color and are mostly found on the underside of the leaf in the triangle where the large leaf ribs meet. They are very hard to remove and have hard shells so we usually end up tearing out the part of the leaf where they are and rubbing them between our fingers to destroy them.
There are lots of eggs and when they hatch the young bugs are voracious eaters. You will see stippling on the upper side of the leaf which is a sign to turn the leaf over and remove them before the get big and start to reproduce the next generation.

Squash vine borer damage at the base of a zucchini plant

Squash lady beetle eggs look just like the good lady bug eggs.

Squash lady bug beetle is orange and bigger than lady bugs

Squash bug eggs are most often found on the underside of the leaf

Young squash bugs are easy to squish

The stippling on the top of the leaf is caused by squash bugs feeding underneath. Turn over the leaf and you will find them.

Funny Farm Update

We're in full swing now. The flower field is busting loose with a riot of color. The sunflowers must have tapped into the moisture and nutrients in the septic drain field. They're huge. 

The front garden is starting to produce. We had some problems earlier with a magnesium deficiency. I was able to correct it with a foliar spray of epsom salts and soil applications as well. The leaves of the peppers were all curled up but they are fine now and starting to bloom.

 The neighbors have come around to our side now as they watch the garden grow. People who walk by are always complimenting us . A woman driving a school bus stopped one day and said she will be back to buy tomatoes.

Damn squash vine borers are taking out the squash now. I'm on guard to protect the zucchini. I started the squash in the green house to get a head start on the borers and it worked well. We harvested lots of squash before the infestation. I'm cutting them out of the vines and destroying them to reduce future populations.

Now that Kitty is gone the chipmunks are eating the strawberries before they even ripen. Penny needs to come out of retirement and get to work on that situation. Fat chance of that happening.

Wild fermentation is in full swing with kraut and more hooch, sunflower this time. I tasted some of the young hooch yesterday and it is pretty tasty and strong. 

MY landscape crew is building a deck down by the pond in anticipation of my 55th birthday celebration coming up on July 19. 

Promises to be a fun time for sure.