July Monthly Post

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is the July community post for birdfeeding. Which birds did you see this month? What were your wildlife activities during July? What are your plans for August?


July anchor posts include:

July Garden Tasks

Fledgling Season (and assorted thoughts)

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I have seen the northern flickers a lot recently.<<

They are pretty birds. :D

>> At the start of the month bugs destroyed my winter squash, so I replanted a couple weeks ago. Bugs destroyed it last year too, maybe later planting will work out.<<

Bummer. Some things you might try:

https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/garden-pests/squash-bug-control/

https://www.kawvalleygreenhouses.com/blog/Detail/how-to-prevent-and-control-squash-bugs

https://ozarkmountainjewel.com/breeding-c-moschata-for-squash-bug-resistance-introduction-to-sare-grant-2021/

http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Insect-resistant_vegetable_varieties/

How much space do you have in your garden? Since you're growing squash I figure it's not a tiny garden. If you have room, consider landrace planting.

Either look for landrace squash seeds, or start with a packet each of whatever varieties are said to resist bugs. Native American varieties are well worth a try too. Squash crossbreed with great enthusiasm, and promiscuous pollination maximizes the gene pool, thus ability to adapt to hazards. Are your friends and neighbors having similar problems? Pool your funds, buy as many landrace or native varieties as possible, then dump them together and give everyone a portion of mixed seeds.

If you can get at least some fruit off the vines, and then save their seeds, then over time you should develop squash that stand up well to challenges in your locale. Also if you like surprises, landrace gardening is lots of fun to see what turns out. :D Squash have lots of interesting stunts with color, shape, etc.

Some promising seeds:

https://www.nativeseeds.org/collections/southwest-traditional/squash#

https://www.marysheirloomseeds.com/collections/squash-pumpkin-seeds

https://wildmountainseeds.com/product-category/vegetable-seeds/winter-squash/

https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/collections/squash

https://givinggroundseeds.com/collections/winter-squash