The Squash That Took Over the Homestead

I let a few volunteer squash grow to see what I would get this year. The little things that bring extra excitement in the garden... surprise squash. Squash cross pollinate really easily, so saving seed from squash is kind of a crap shoot in itself....and the volunteers from compost are a roll of the dice. It is fun to see what you get.

As you can see, squash tends to attempt world dominance. Since we will not be mowing again for a while I allow it to take over the grassy areas. We do not water our lawn areas in the summer, we allow the grass to turn brown and go dormant until the rains return. What you see here is actually only from two plants, one growing from each end of the Hugelkultur bed.

(The white sheets are old curtains that the chickens are using as shade in this hot weather.)

This acorn squash and two of its cousins were harvested from one of them this week. There are a few more yet to ripen on the vines. The acorns seem pretty true to their original kin.

The intentional squash is planted within the garden and is doing its own support of the world takeover. The winter squash (Sibley) and the summer squash (yellow patty pan and zucchini) are on either side of the cucumber trellis.

The coop is disappearing behind the tomatoes and squash.