How is your garden growing? Consider this a quick check-in on how your baby tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and other garden goodies are doing. So many of you showed us your awesome gardens in the My Great Outdoors event; we'd love to hear how your little patch of earth is doing. As for me and mine, well, when I returned from vacation this week I found that my squash vines had made their move! Read on to see what they looked like not too long ago...
The photo above is of my baby squash plants just a short month or so ago. But look at them now! They're nearly up to my waist, and growing at the speed of light.
I squeezed a lot of squash into this little patch; there are four sprawling winter squash vines, plus a melon, and a vertically-climbing summer squash. There's room for them all to sprawl out on the trellis and on the ground, but we're already looking a little nervously at the enormous vines and dinnerplate-sized flowers and wondering if they will take over the yard by the end of July!
Are you growing squash or melons? How do you make room for them in a city garden?
Related: A Raised-Bed Garden in Early Summer
(Images: Faith Durand)
I decided to grow only bush-type squash (zucchini and yellow crookneck) because I was afraid of exactly this kind of takeover. But next year I might make room for a melon or two!
- Amelia of Gradually Greener
view GreenCayennes's profile
I just went outside last night to find that my Oregon Snow Pea vines had beautiful 4" pods all over!! I didn't even notice them because the plant is currently WAY smaller than the Sugar Snap Pea vines nearby (which haven't produced yet). What a surprise! ...and very tasty too. My 2 year old went nuts. I also had my first French Breakfast Radishes - everything is late this year.
view keltrue's profile
We had this problem last year with our zucchini plants. It drove me a bit crazy and I ended leaving them woefully neglected them out of spite. This year we skipped the zucchini but planted cantaloupe in a wine barrel. We'll probably need to support the melons with some sort of sling contraption but at least we're getting along!
view shayna r's profile
We have planted quite a bit of squash in our little city garden (butternut, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and cymlings). My advice to you in to cut off the ends of the vines. That way they won't keep taken over (and possible strangling your other plants) - and (at least according to my dad, the longtime gardener) they will concentrate their energies on producing squash. I did that last year and this year with the butternut squash and it worked well.
view cransell's profile
My cucumber plant is taking over 1 container box! I had to transplant the basil!
view poweredbytofu's profile
I had thrown some acorn squash seeds in my compost bin last fall, thinking nothing of it. Well, come spring time, I found there were about 5 little squash plants growing in there. I thought about transplanting them but realized I had no room. I then tried to destroy them several times, but they managed to thrive for a while, even in a dark stanky box. Needless to say, I was worried for a while each time I went out to the box that I would be greeted by a similar site as your garden, except pushing its way out of the box!
view amefree's profile
My honeydew melon has gotten quite large! We were lucky to have quite a bit of space in our side yard, so that is where we put our garden. I planted the honeydew near the edge of the gate so it can stretch through the gate.
view goodLife{eats}'s profile
That reminds me of the summer I planted birdhouse gourds - the vines almost covered the house! The next time I plant a viney vegetable I will try cransell's tip.
view BonivaGScott's profile
My son begged me to plant mini pumpkins this year and they are already taking over the garden. I only planted 4 seeds. But I am sure I will love it once fall comes, one can never have too many pumpkins!
view Icanmakeit's profile