Squash, Anyone?

We tried an experiment this year. After some reading on the internet, I figured we could make a try at growing part of our garden over our septic field. I know, I know, don't think about it too much. Most of the research I read said that if you have clay soil (which we do), then all the "yucky stuff" gets filtered out in the first couple of inches up from the drainage pipes, leaving all the "good stuff" (i.e. things that made us have the greenest, thickest patch of tumbleweeds this side of the Mississippi. Wait, do tumbleweeds grow East of the Mississippi? Never mind...) to feed the plants.

Point is, we've been eating off of the garden for weeks now, and no one has gotten sick. Sam growing a third ear doesn't count. No really, he's not, I'm just fooling with you.


Is this a jungle, you may ask? No, it's just the squash patch. You're looking at the butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and pumpkins. And it IS a jungle. I haven't been able to get in there for 6 weeks. I think I'll just wait for the first frost before I try to venture into that jumble of growth. The fuzzy patch at the bottom of the photo is our watermelon section. We have 6 lovely watermelon growing.



And these, my friends, are the cause of all my problems. These are the 5 bushes of summer squash. We have 1 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, and 2 patty pan squash. Pictures really don't do this justice. The patty pan squash, in front, is the largest I've ever seen. It's almost 6 feet in diameter (and was only supposed to be 3).


Here are my lovely butternut squash. I have no idea how many we have, since I can't get in there, but it's a lot!

And the yellow squash. They look tranquil and lovely, but don't be fooled!

Zucchini. Only one plant, so we're doing better, here.


This is the spaghetti squash. We've got a lot of these, too.

And bugs! Whoa! I think that there are thousands and thousands living in our patch. I'm not exaggerating. In the morning, there are so many bees buzzing around in the patch that I think we should get a cut from the beekeeper!

And here, my friends, is the problem. This is the squash that I have harvested in the last 24 hours. No joke. 45. Forty-five squash. We could be a math lesson for Bethany's kindergarten class. Wait, they don't count that high in kindergarten.




We have eaten in the past two weeks: summer squash gratin, 2 types of zucchini bread, sauteed summer veggies with herbs, ratatouille (so, so yummy!), stuffed squash, and just plain steamed with butter. I have grated and frozen 10 sandwich bags full of squash. I have 3 gallon sized bags full of cubed frozen squash. Please, send help.

Come to my house. And take some of our squash home with you. Please, please, please...
Or at least send your favorite summer squash recipe.

And, I think, that our garden adventure was a bit more success than I can handle.