(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol: 20.27 This Garden Diary Brought to You by the Color Orange [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-08 All Are Welcome! This is a weekly blog with a fun vibe that often veers off gardening, so stop on by and join the conversation. We adore new people! We are here every Saturday at 8AM Central with new content and chit chat continuing throughout the week. We have a core crew that checks in each day, all comments are read. Which makes us the best diary series on DK. The longest part of this diary will be searching for and uploading all these photos. Picture it, 2016. A baby gardener, finally and way past time, has her first property. She and her mate build their garden in a subdivision, on what was formerly farmland, and wild prairie before that. The first week she moves in, late summer, she and he build a raised garden, using the lasagna method, so it is ready to go that first spring in the new house. Cardboard, manure, the turned over sod and the cheapest bagged soil available. The following spring, in goes the herb spiral. Same lasagna process. She buys seeds, finally, whatever she wants. My baby, the Galeux d’Eysines She sees a squash. It has a French name. The flavor is raved about. It's rare, nobody in these parts has heard of it, so she wants to grow it. The OG garden hipster. Seeds are planted in clay soil she worked the best she could with the limited soil amending knowledge she had. Mid June, growth explodes, the squash is taking over the precious corner where she planted it. It makes large yellow flowers, begging to be pollinated. They are, and fruit begins to form. She checks her plant every day, in awe of this verdant and golden thing she grew. She talks to her plant, takes photos of her plant, talks about her plant to anyone who will listen. She is majestic! (the plant) The Plant, before Satan Mid July. Huh. The plant begins to wilt. She waters it some more, it wilts some more. She doesn't google as she knows enough that in a hot summer, plants wilt and sometimes just need some cool nights and some water to perk right back up. Mother Nature isn't big on providing plenty of rain in these parts, it's the gardener who brings the water. Days pass, she notices the stems of the plant are going pale, very odd. Things just do not look healthy. Is she the worst gardener ever? Squash are supposed to be easy, low maintenance. One fruit begins to mature; slowly the peanuts on the rind rise and fill in their brown color. That first squash ever is not even a third of the expected size. The other fruit withers on the rotting vine. In an attempt to investigate, she digs among the base of the plant, where it looks literally chewed up. The stem peels away, revealing the cause of all of it. The squash vine borer. Plural. Many plural. ~ To this day, I am completely flummoxed of how this proof of the devil found my garden that very first year. At that time, nobody for blocks had a garden with Cucurbita, only flowers. There was no garden on the property prior, no nursery for the pupae. How far away can these awful creatures sense a squash blossom? I grow Galeux d'Eysines every single year. It is a Cucurbita Maxima, the most favorite cultivar for the squash vine borer. Doesn't matter to me. I consider it *my* squash, and I can and do fight the squash vine borer every damn year to get one. Anyone who has battled this pest knows how relentless they are, that the odds on are not mine. But every year, I get my Galeux d’Eysines. I show up. I do all of the things. I lose some. And save some others. She’s the second plant on the second row from the left. You should see the plant now. She is small, yet lush, fat with promise. She grows alongside a multitude of other squash, most requiring a fight to save. All but my so-called Bourdain squash, another squash story I’ll tell another time. Based on Growing Degree Days, I’d say the battle begins in about a week. The Bad She arrives soon. The SVB traps only catch the boys. ~ Prepped for baking. Yup, that is a whole stick of butter. They’re huge. Pretty Orange Things Habanada Peppers Dahlia — Probably Valley Rust Bucket ...not even gonna ask Flauta with Pepper Jelly and Winter Squash Hillbilly Tomato on my favorite plates Flower and a motherfly? Buttermoth? Kiwidee? Vodka Sauce — Salsa alla Vodka per la Penne. Or was it Masala for Tikka? More playing with my food. Orange tomatoes. My pepper jelly. One hot, other not. Orange Gladiolus I made homemade Orangecello Is this the Great Orange Satan? Corbaci pepper. I purchased and planted this flower, but no clue what it was. GUG's vertical garden. Video under 2 minutes. ~ Diaries are this easy, if you want them to be. Share a few photos. Tell a story, even a short one will do. If you would like to sign up for a diary, please look for my comment in bold (it'll be near the top of comments), and one of the Admins here will get the ball rolling and pop you into the schedule. We are all here to help. Please feel free to leave a comment or photo below! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/8/2245429/-Saturday-Morning-Garden-Blogging-Vol-20-27-This-Garden-Diary-Brought-to-You-by-the-Color-Orange?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/