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I really have to get to putting by my winter food supply! This basket of San Marzano tomatoes came off of two plants, and I didn't even put a dent in what is there...
And "behind" them I have another half dozen or so that are just beginning to ripen! Fortunately there is nothing better than a San Marzano for freezing, sauce or drying. Plenty of X-Mas gifts in the making, I think!
But a pair of fingers will...Death To Squash Bugs!!!! <G>
I uncovered the new experimental squash bed yesterday as the plants (both the squashes and the herbs they are interplanted with) were swelling the row cover like some sort of stove-top popcorn pan. I don't know if it was the giberillic acid or the conditions under the cover but the ones that I sprayed are certainly larger, and more elongated than the others that were planted under the earlly pole beans.
The herbs, in fact were in danger of shading the squashes, so I harvested some each of the dill and cilantro and then put strings on the largest of the squash. To recap the plan: I planted a mix of summer squash varieties aproximately one foot apart down the center of a three foot bed with a seven foot tall teepee trellis above. Then I sprayed the squashes at the five leaf stage with a 25 ppm solution of giberillic acid to stretch the internodes and now I am going to braid them up strings to the crossbar as if they were melons or cucumbers.
The idea is to see if the extra air helps prolong the health of the foliage and the wide spacing makes the fruits easier to find and harvest. I am also hoping giving the plants more room will make it easier to control the squash and cucumber beetles and thus prolong the harvest period.
If this seems to work, I may do a more formal experiment next year.
Change is good
