When you’re gardening, not everything turns out as hoped.

I’m afraid my dreams of a sweet, bountiful squash harvest have been… well.. squashed…

I’m not sure if it’s the work of the Squash Bug or the Squash Vine Borer or both… but every single squash plant is toast. My guess is on both… I have definitely seen the Squash Bugs – lots of them. And while I did what I could to control them at the start of the season… things fell off in the later months. I have seen one Squash Vine Borer moth… and that likely means eggs, which mean larvae – which mean dead plants.

Regardless – the result is the same. I picked all the squash that were still hanging on the vines.

I think only the one on the bottom is anywhere close to ripe. Regardless… I’ve got them all on the porch where it’s warm and dry and I’ll do my best to cure them and hope they ripen a little more along the way.

Not every crop is a winner… but I’ve done my research and hopefully we can prevent this from happening again next year! Gardening is all about learning.

I can’t complain about the rest of the garden though.

The gourds have not been affected at all by the squash pests, and the tunnel is covered in orange, yellow and green mini-gourds. Most of these are probably at their full size, but I’ll wait a few more weeks to pick them. They are just for decoration anyway.

The beans are still going crazy – and I’m giving them away whenever I can. And you can see, there’s another big cucumber on top. I thought the cucumbers were done for the year, but it seems they’ve gotten a second wind.

There are several more little ones coming. This particular cucumber has been a big hit. It’s a Japanese “Burpless” called Summer Dance. Dave, Mom and Dad all loved it. I will definitely grow it again next year.

The other big hit has been the Cucamelons

I’ve heard that they can be really fussy to grow north of the border, but it appears our hot, humid summers are just perfect for them. We are getting five-10 ripe “melons” every day and Dave’s having trouble stating on top of them. For new readers… the look like a berry-sized water melon, but are actually a mini cucumber.

I will definitely grow them again next year – though I think I will try them in a pot with a trellis, saving the space on the squash tunnel for something bigger. Their leaves are very small and they are in danger of being overtaken by the gourds if I don’t stay on top of things with a pair of pruners.

And thank goodness I only planted one tomato plant…

They are just cherry tomatoes but they would take over the house if I didn’t have people to give them to! Like most of what I grow, I don’t eat tomatoes, so it’s up to poor Dave to try to put it all away. But it’s been just impossible for the poor guy. I came down the other morning and he was slicing some up to put on a BLT for breakfast.

Ok… technically I did plant more than one tomato plant… readers may remember that I started some yellow cherry tomatoes from seed in early spring. I managed to get ONE seedling to survive, but ‘it was small and weak. I planted it anyway, and it’s grown very slowly. It’s just now starting to get blossoms, so maybe I’ll get a few yellow cherry tomatoes before the frost.

And while I might not eat most of the veg I grow – the fruit is another matter.

It’s prime raspberry season and I’ve been enjoying a bowl of fresh raspberries on the daily! I also have golden raspberries, but I’m saving all of them to make jam. Simply because I’ve never had golden raspberry jam! The golden ones are a touch milder than the red berries and I think they’ll make an amazing jam!