If You Have Squash in NC, Now is the Time to Control Your Squash Bugs!

[Francie]

Our squash look really awesome right now, with no holes in the leaves. We have lots! And several kinds. So far, we have harvested zucchini, crookneck, and large mystery squash. Now the squash bugs are coming. When I find an adult bug, I grab it, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it!

These eggs are little copper colored eggs in groups. Can't miss 'em! I use a sharp-edged rock to scrape them off the leaves. In the second picture, you can see them hatching. Look like little spiders. The real spiders in my garden, I leave alone. Also, we have opened parts of our garden to our chickens, who are on the pest patrol beat...

Another thing about the garden, is that my husband, imho, got a bit overzealous with the weed control. He was taking each long branch of the plant, moving it aside, and weed wacking under it. I thought that since these plants grew the little curlicue fibers to hang on to the weeds and spread, that maybe we should just let them do their thing. Plus, spreading dirt on the leaves with the weed wacker would cover them up a bit, and leave less available to collect sun. He thought that made sense. I don't really know if what he did matters, but I think once those plants are big and producing, the weeds shoudn't much matter anyway.

My, oh, my, were our fried squash blossoms good! I used fresh dill and chives in some creme cheese for the filling.