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Time for another update on my vegetable growing and gardening exploits!
After weeks of nothing but prolific leaf growth from my four butternut squash plants, last Saturday my eagle-eyed mother-in-law spotted a squash on one of the plants. And once we spotted that one, we just kept finding more and more!
First squash and the (current) biggest squash. Click!
I reckon that there are about 15 proto-squash at the moment. Most are un-fertilised at the moment and and I find myself eagerly checking them every morning to see if (a) the female flowers (the ones with the baby squashes behind them) have opened and (b) that there is at least one male flower to get the job done. I may play fertility goddess later on, just to ensure that the squash ’set’. If even one makes it to adult-hood and eating size then I will be thrilled.
As Dave and I are now huge fans of fennel, I’ve also sown some in a trough. While it’s too late to sow any butternut squash from seed, you can still get some fennel in if you move fast. (At least, according to the back of my seed packet, you can.)
After all its blossom in the spring, my little apple tree hasn’t produced any fruit. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting any as it’s still so young. Also, until recently it has been a bit choked with weeds–I’m such a bad plant mama sometimes–but it is now nice and clear after a concerted effort from Dave and I.
We’ve been doing quite a bit of general tidying up in the garden (in preparation for putting new fences up) and have discovered loads of fruit bushes all over the place. I had no idea that raspberries and blackberries put out sucker shoots all over the place. I’ve been finding mini-bushes springing up in the most unexpected places.
I’m planning to check the blackberries every day after I’ve watered the squash and stash that day’s harvest in the freezer. By the end of the summer I might have enough for an apple and blackberry crumble!
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Wow, those are amazing squash. My Mum grows her own veg and her courgettes this year are a disaster as we’ve just had too much rain and not enough sunshine.
Home grown Raspberries are wonderful, nothing like what you get in the shop. We make pounds of jam every year and it’s beautiful.
I really should start growing more veg at home, I have enough space! I love blackberries and they’ve just started appearing on the lanes around my house!
If you have lots of bees you won’t have to play fertility goddess…
As to the berry suckers… If you’re not careful they will take over everything. We didn’t mow one section for a year and it’s solid brambles… covered in berries that only the birds can reach. Guess they have to eat, too!
Wow – your butternuts are a lot further along than mine (could be something to do with the ummm extremely late planting…!). I’m currently in the leaf growth stage but will post pics if we ever get to the flowers. Yours look so fab!
Thanks everyone! In case it wasn’t totally obvious, I’m tremendously proud of my squash babies
Katie, thank-you! I’ve heard that most people’s courgettes are only starting to get going in the last couple of weeks. Maybe your mum will still get some little ones after all?
Beth, it really is very satisfying. I spent a happy ten minutes earlier on thinning out my fennel a bit more and hunting for more squash.
Katie, we have a ‘wild’ section of garden which is currently full of sprawling berry bushes. Alas, not child friendly at all due to huge thorns, so it’s been sprayed with weed killer. And I only played fertility goddess once
I left the bees and butterflies to it after that.
Jeanne, thank-you!! If we get a decent amount of sunshine in August yours should start flowering, I reckon. At least it’s still warm, even if it has started raining yet again….