Out-of-control squash
Remember the potato towers? The area looked really bare when I first built them in April. We thought a little greenery in the understory might look nice around the reed screens, so we planted a planted two winter squash thinking they would fill in the space.
See them? They look like sweet little puffs of green on either side of the front towers.
Well, they grew….
And grew (and grew, and grew, and grew). Now I have this mess:
The potato towers have long been harvested, and now that entire area is just a mass of green. We’ve had to actually cut the plants back several times (something I’ve never done before) to prevent them from devouring that tiered planting bed you see on the right. The plants didn’t even care! They are the most vigorous squash plants I’ve ever seen!
Here you can see how they’ve climbed up the trellis filled with drying beans (leftover from the hummingbird garden) and are actually producing squash hanging on the trellis.
They’re unbelievable! Winter squash isn’t ready until the vine actually dies. These plants seem a far way off from that point — they are still flowering and producing new squash! When will it end? This is the test garden, and I’ve got new gardens in the works!
Young squash leaves and tendrils are edible and delicious. Here in South Africa they are cooked like spinach, or steamed with a bit of onion, tomato and, optionally, a handful of peanuts.
Ha! Thanks. That makes me smile. It always feels like quite an adventure indeed….
That’s awesome. I love reading your adventures in gardening…
Yes. Winter squash is confusing in that way — we think “winter” and we think we can plant it later. But the time to plant it, believe it or not, is late spring/early summer. There’s always next year. Or hey — I’ll share some of mine with you!
Ohmy. I guess it’s too late to plant my winter squash in the Bay Area then?