Every year it’s my goal to grow a pumpkin. I’m not greedy, just one is all I need. I have failed miserably over and over again and decided this year to increase the odds by planting two full raised beds of pumpkin seeds plus plant some in the greenhouse and some along the edge of our property far away from our vegetable garden to try to hide from the squash bugs. I bought new plant-based pesticides at great expense to add to our arsenal. Pretty much everything I could think of besides getting a commercial pesticide license which allows us to use the really harmful stuff (and I’ve considered it, believe me). I’ve been fighting squash bugs for months. Spraying them, picking them off, ripping off the leaves that have squash bug eggs on them, looking under every leaf of every vine. Every. Single. Morning. Two days ago I gave up and ripped all the vines out of our raised beds, I couldn’t look at the insect-damaged vines any more. October is next month and we hadn’t produced a single pumpkin. Yesterday I ripped out the ones in our greenhouse for the same reason. Today Brian found this along the edge of our property while mowing. It was growing on a vine that had every single leaf eaten away. Happy early Halloween, everyone!
Missing Willow Farm 