Tuesday 14 July 2009

Squash Serpente di Sicilia


This is the first Squash Serpente di Sicilia harvested, indeed it is the very first I have ever harvested. Here, Hannah is playing it like a guitar, enjoying the fun. Seems this can be cooked as courgette, I look forward to trying it.
The rainy season is ended or ending, and the squash and courgettes are blossoming again, so we look forward to a renewed wealth of fruits.
One of the courgette plants succumbed to squash vine borer so it was buried in the compost heap. It seems that was not the best solution.
Solution, if the stem is sheared, cut back the stem to where the squash borer is removed, perhaps jetting it with water. Then suspend the plant in a bucket of water until it re-roots and replant it. Re-rooting should take a week, and the plant will establish itself again.
If the stem is frayed. Eliminate the worm by spraying with strong jets of water. Perhaps this will need splicing the stem vertically and prying it open. Perhaps the worms will need to be cut, or otherwise destroyed. Then bind the stem back together again and bury it in earth and compost, as it will then re-root and regrow.
These will be the approaches adopted next time, hopefully not necessary.