It has been hot and dry - a normal August but these are some of the surprises. A month ago the sweet potatoes were small scraggly vines but now it is a sea of leaves. They grow so fast they seem to be moving.
This squash plant has amazed me. It is a volunteer spreading down the field fence beside the lawn. The horses can reach it but are not interested in munching - the leaves are prickly. Vines that spread into the field are trimmed before the horses trample them.
Now for the amazing part. It sprouted in the compost pile in spring, chose to climb the fence and hasn't been watered until the leaves wilted this week.
When removing the compost its root was uncovered and half of it had been chopped. Hubby stopped digging when he realized what it was and we have since left it alone. It might have rooted in another spot under the mountain of food scraps but I'm not searching. Vines haven't rooted anywhere along the fence due to mowers and horses hooves.
This is either proof of the magic of compost or it shows I am a better gardener when I do nothing.
The yellow squash experiment of covering the seedlings until they bloom to avoid squash vine borer damage is having some success. When the netting is removed, it is moved to another row where more seeds are planted. There has been a constant rotation of squash.
This row of yellow squash has been protected from the borers with the the netting. (We are still watching for signs of infestation. It takes awhile to manifest.) The squash in the middle of this row is twice the size of the others. All were planted from the same pack of seeds at the same time but the one in the middle has gone wild.
It is covered in blooms and fruit plus the vine has sprouted branches like a tree! Yellow squash are always a single vine with maybe the occasional extra branch but not this one. We have no idea why it is so different. It is the only plant like this and if at all possible, seeds will be saved. It looks like we might actually have a decent yellow squash harvest for the FIRST TIME EVER! My fingers are still crossed though.
Other than the heat and no rain, the garden is absolutely rocking!
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