This is some of the squash we have taking over growing in our garden.
Our yard actually.
We planted winter squashes in the two 4’ x 4’ raised beds. Our “Three Sisters” gardens – squash, corn and beans. Everything’s growing, so we’re happy.
The thing is, not only do we have squash plants from those two gardens, but we’ve also got countless rogue hybrid squash plants that sprouted from various spots near the compost bins and the back garden.
And in case you didn’t know it, squash plants are restless. They don’t sit still, even though they may appear to be just sitting there. They run, they roam, they invite themselves into your kitchen and pour themselves coffee. They open the cookie jar and the fridge and the cupboards, looking for snacks. They climb the stairs, use your toothbrush, and curl up in your bed.
They take over.
Here’s the view of the driveway side. We’ve got basil galore, in the whiskey barrel and in the buckets behind it. Salad greens off the the right in the front. There are two tomatillo plants staked near the fence in the mid-right portion of the picture.
And look who’s creeping down the middle of all this.
Yes, it’s a squash. Butternut. In a day or two it will grab the keys and take the truck for a spin.
This is the back end of the previous picture. We’ve got at least two kinds of squash here, the butternut, and the galeux d’eysines. On both sides of the fence. The leaves on the left are huge – I should have posed Julia next to them just to show you HOW huge.
Same fence, yard side.
In the front along the fence we’ve got kale, dill, red cabbage, and a variety of hot peppers.
In the raised bed closest to the camera, we’ve got two eNORmous zucchini plants with a tomato plant or two in the back corner of the same square. And Thai basil.
The next bed had pattypan squash plants but we pulled them because they produced too little to justify the huge space they were taking up. We’ve also got some more hot peppers, a melon plant (pray for us), and Vietnamese coriander.
And…
…creeping down the eastern side of those two gardens – yep, another butternut.
Look at this!
It’s wonderfully out of control, with squash plants running in all directions.
The raised bed at the back of the yard – cucumbers, beans, greens, herbs, tomatoes, radishes, who knows what else.
Oh, and squash.
You know how obstacle courses and football training programs have rows of car tires and you have to run through them, high-stepping through the tires without tripping? That’s kind of what it’s like getting from the middle of the yard to the back corner where I stood when I took the picture above.
There are huge leaves and vines stretching across the lawn, not to mention the land mines in various colors and shapes…
We have no idea how many we’ve got – more keep popping up every day.
It’s the craziest, best, most wonderful squash year we’ve ever had. Bill credits the pyrethrin – the organic pesticide he’s been applying faithfully every few days. We haven’t been bothered by those evil vine-boring squash beetles AT ALL this year. I’m not even worried that I’m jinxing us by saying that, because the danger of the squash beetles has passed. Yay!
Aren’t these morning glories pretty? I think they’re the only plants capable of holding their own against the wild squashes.
The nice, friendly thing about all the squash plants, is that they don’t seem interested in choking out any of the other plants. They just want to take up all the space not occupied by other vegetation.
Speaking of which, here are a few shots I took of some of the other food ripening on the various vines and branches and stalks…
Swiss chard bejeweled with dew.
Corn
The baby melon. Don’t frighten it. It’s very tiny.
Red noodle beans dangling from the corn.
Cherry tomatoes growing from the window boxes. We didn’t plant them – they just showed up.
Morning light on tomato leaves.
Champagne bubbles on a rose leaf.
And, to close this post, a deliriously joyful bee in a beach rose flower.
That’s all I can write today.
The squash vines want to borrow my laptop.
Love Love Love!! Thank you for a wonderful humorous tour thru your garden today. Really made me smile.
Posted by: Beth | August 13, 2012 at 04:15 PM
LOL It does feel like the squash might come in and pour themselves coffee! This year the squashes we planted did horribly but the volunteers that we decided to "wait and see" on are doing stupendously!
I love the happy bee at the end of your post!
Posted by: RoseAnn | August 13, 2012 at 04:27 PM
Hahahahahahhaa! oh Jayne, that's EXACTLY how I feel about my squishy-squash! I had to cull a bunch of vines to keep them under control... that, and powdery mildew is rampant. /cry
[my scallop squash produced like MAD! I'm ready to pick the last of the four fruits and just pull the stupid thing to make room for fall plants... and garlic. ♥]
I swear my jeep mileage is increasing even though I haven't been taking my dogs out in it for walks @ the quarry... maybe I need to hide the keys to test if it's the boyfriend taking it out for a spin or the squash...
Thanks for the tip. Haha!
Posted by: Donna B. | August 14, 2012 at 12:16 PM
We have some tomatoes and 3 green peppers... jealous...
Posted by: Pamela L. | August 14, 2012 at 02:37 PM