(Partial) Surrender

I came back from a work trip to find the garden quite parched. My house sitter did a good job keeping things alive, but no decent rainfall in several weeks means the plants are sucking up water as fast as you can put it on them.

The tub of yellow squash was looking particularly pitiful. Last night I put 10-12 gallons of water on each of the squash and zucchini planters. This morning it was evident that the yellow squash was not going to rebound, thanks to a healthy infestation of squash borers.

I had been trying to stay ahead of them this year. I was regularly spraying the vines with Bt solution. I even tried injecting Bt into the vines whenever I saw frass. I think this may be the longest I've kept them alive and producing for several years. But alas, this battle is lost.

Cutting off the vines told the tale. I found five borers in this spot alone.

Off to the disposal (i.e. NOT compost) pile in the pasture.

So far the two tubs of zucchini are looking OK.

But when I picked yesterday there were some borers trying to get established in the stems of two zucchini. And then upon closer inspection today I'm seeing this.

I took a syringe and flushed out the stem with Bt solution, including removing a few small borers. Then I came through with the hand sprayer and liberally sprayed all the vines. Not sure how much longer the zucchini will last, but I hope I can at least get the remaining set fruits off the vines before calling it a season.

Blackberries!

Two years ago I planted two blackberry vines. Actually I planted them twice, first the bare root into pots because I hadn't developed the bed yet, and then the second time a few months later into their official home.

And then I waited.

I got a few handfuls of berries last year. And then the vines grew. And grew. And grew. I had chosen the variety "Apache" because it was a) thornless and b) it was supposed to have a height of 5-8 feet. The thornless part is true, but some of the canes measure well over 12 feet! I had to redo my staking last summer and wind some of the longer ones back and forth as they kept growing.

And this year I have been rewarded.

So far I've picked over four quarts. To put that in perspective, my recipe for blackberry cobbler calls for two cups, which means I could make eight cobblers.

And there still is a lot on the vine. 

Part of the picking process is figuring out which ones are ripe and which still need more time. You would think with a name like "blackberry" that color alone will determine if they are ready. In reality, if they are still clinging tightly to the vine they need a few more days.

If I take a look back to a month or so ago, I could tell this was coming. And that it will be a couple weeks until the season is through. Given the dry spell we are in right now, the vines are getting a good soak with the hose at least once a week to help the berries get big and juicy.

Now, to figure out what I'm going to do with all these berries...