Anne-Marie “Dash” Miller – Defeating Garden Pests

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  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    Dash loves: When I was in Mexico, the Tarahumara had the roasted seeds on a plate just around as a snack. They had huge squashes they kept in the one room house they lived in.

    Marjory, I just have to say that you are sooo cool! Who hangs out with the Tarahumara? You do that's who. Wow! You jet set all over the world interviewing people & yet you stop in Dallas to go to lunch with me & totally set me at ease! I so admire you, but at the same time you are sooo real & approachable! You ROCK! Thanks for the summit. Tasha's presentation has got me wanting goats again! My hubby is going to send you hate mail!! LOL Seriously, so good to know you & call you friend. Blessings, Dash

  • kdubiel
    kdubiel Posts: 3 ✭✭✭

    Thanks so much for sharing what you've learned about combating squash enemies. Love that tinge of the "evil genius" you have brought to combating your nemesis - several good laughs. I haven't seen either of these particular bugs so far, but a) it's possible I could see them in the future, and now I know what to look for. And b) your strategies can be applied in many situations, so it was helpful that you shared your thought process to solving the problems with your squash enemies. And thanks also for your segment about acquiring cattle panels. I ran into the same problem, and I even have my own truck. I took one look at them and thought... nope, not today. I might get one or two next season after seeing this.

  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for those kind words. I know! That cattle panel is a beast! Not an impulse buy for sure! The first year of gardening at the community garden was golden for us. I mean golden yellow squash, I think it takes a while for this pest to find you?! & overwinter in the garden ready to get busy in Spring/Summer. Then it is all bets are off. You will love a tunnel trellis when you get it, it is magical all covered with vines! Blessings, Dash

  • Peg
    Peg Posts: 3

    Inspiring! I learned a lot. I even feel hopeful.

  • Kim
    Kim Posts: 2

    last year I had great success by shredding Irish Spring soap and putting it at the base of my squash plants. The squash bugs seemed to be repelled and the plants stayed healthy much longer into the season.

  • Kim
    Kim Posts: 2

    Dash you are an absolute delight! I wish that we could be next door neighbors!

  • Amy
    Amy Posts: 35 ✭✭✭

    What a fantastic presentation and inspiring front-yard garden, Dash. :-) Thank you!

  • Paul
    Paul Posts: 6

    You got me scratching my head on this one. Here is a link to the farmers almanac on getting rid of squash borers and squash bugs.



    You have the borer pupae and squash bugs over wintering in your garden soil and around the area and you need to stop that cycle. Interrupt the lifecycle and you beat the pests.

    Simple solution is don't grow squash for a year and get rid of the pupae in your soil and most of the overwintering squash bugs (no food also equals no life). Then, the following year, use light floating row covers (for bug protection) and don't take them off until you have flowers on the vines and bees in the area (unless you care to hand pollinate, which means shaking the pollen out of the male flowers to collect the pollen and using a small paint brush to hand pollinate the female flowers by hand). At the same time you remove the floating row covers you could also wrap the bases in foil or mound up soil at the base and then dust with Diatomaceous Earth. Deploy sticky traps, etc.

    Bottom line; you get rid of your over wintering borer pupae and overwintering squash bugs, then you are not going to have any adults around to lay eggs because their lifecycle was already interrupted. You would only have to worry about overflow from outside areas which would be light and should be fairly easy to defend with just the row covers and a few preventative measures. If you have some rosemary and lavender growing nearby, it should be really easy to see when the bees are there so you can pull back the row covers and let them pollinate. Then recover until harvest, and if you harvest and notice any bugs, pull the vines and bag them for a year after anything inside is good and dead.

    Also... I first grew cucuzzi squash/gourd back in 1979 and it was a hot mess. Gave everyone really bad gas every time we ate it, It quickly got a juvenile humor-ish negative nick name and I haven't grown fuzzy fart squash since. You got this!


    Good luck,


    -Peace, Love, and Hippie Thoughts-


    -Paul-

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    @bloomwhereyourplanted28 This was a fun and informative video! Thanks Dash! I’m super inspired by the cattle panel arch...now to find a spot to put it!!

    My master gardeners program grew those trumpet zucchini in a key hole garden last year, they had so many they begged the rest of us to come harvest! I took home 6 and they were delish.

    You mentioned preserving zucchini isn’t typical but I wanted to share that I like to create a zucchini spiral (alt spaghetti noodle) and Blanche them and freeze them in portion sizes. I’m GF and Keto. When my family eats potatoes or noodles I have my little packs of zucchini noodles ready to serve up!

  • VitalVegan
    VitalVegan Posts: 11

    Thank you Dash! I have not planted suash for a few years now...threw my hat down too many times

    over those squash bugs! I will try to increase my defenders and attacker population as my soil and watering is doing well.

    Maybe then, i will try again to keep my hat on : )

    Hugs

  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    Hi Paul, I am so glad you brought these methods up! You are right in that those are 2 suggested ways to treat these 2 insects. A few reasons I don't subscribe to those methods are:

    Squash is a BIG part of my family's diet from the gardens. This is NOT a hobby for me, I am feeding my family. If I took every other year off from planting squash, what crop would I replace that with every other year that is not in the squash or pumpkin family? I am open to suggestions?

    I started out at a community garden, If yourneighbor has squash it doesn't matter if you don't;) Squash bugs go after melons & cucumbers too. I know it is not fair!

    Why I don't use row covers: Only successful if you take that year off(they come from underneath the cover). Also I am a bee keeper. I rely on my bees to pollinate, I refuse to do that job for them. They do it so well & provide me with honey;) Also I don't have time to be a bee that's why I hired my sweet flying friends to help me out.

    I have tried putting foil & cloth around my squash stems. 1. It is hard as they grow to adjust that & keep it on there.2. The squash vine borer laid eggs above that wrap. The struggle is real!

    So Farmer's Almanac gave advice that doesn't work for my real life, so they wasted my time trying things that don't work in reality. I will try not to be too salty about that.

    Squash bug/vine borer resistant varieties work in my real life. They provide needed food for my family.

    That is so interesting that cucuzzi had that result in your intestines! LOL We didn't experience that, but we did not consume a lot of it last season because I got really sick & those things grew sooo fast that many got too big to eat! We will try it again this year & watch for that. Thanks for giving us a heads up about that. No one wants a stincky nickname;)

    Thanks for commenting in such detail, respectfully with a great sense of humor. Love this online community. We are all working together to grow food! FOOD NOT LAWNS;)

  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    herbantherapy, Thanks so much for that tip about how to save the zuch noodles! I have a spiral noodle gadget, I am sooo going to do that this year. Love it!

    Cheers , Dash

  • VitalVegan
    VitalVegan Posts: 11

    PS Thank you also for the variety options to search for. Hoping there will be Heirloom, non GMO and organic options! whoohoo

  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    Hi Vita, I know! The struggle is real! If you go to my blog https://bloomwhereyourplanted.com/win-the-war-against-the-squash-vine-borer-with-resistant-varieties/ I have all the varieties listed with links where I got them from. Most are Heirloom, non GMO & organic. The Eight Ball sqaush & the poquito squash were hybrids. That means that you can't save seeds from those to come back true to form of original fruit.

    UPDATE: oh no! I just checked the links & all the companies are sold out! Baker Creek's website is even shut down right now. Sorry, you guys. I will start searching for other companies that still have available seed! Crazy times!

    Blessings, Dash

  • Leza
    Leza Posts: 19

    Thank you, Dash, x2! 😃 I'll have to try the castor oil granules--thanks *hugely*!!! ❤️<>< 😊

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Dash, thank you so much for this presentation. It wasn't until after I started watching this that I realized how timely it was; I am growing extra squash this year, on impulse. We haven't particularly had trouble with borers to my knowledge, but definitely squash bugs

    The Sample Seed Shop http://www.sampleseeds.com/?page_id=2633 still sells several of those squash varieties, including cucuzzi and zucchino rampicante varieties. Just please note that it is a very small business, and Remy warns on the homepage that it might take a while to get your order right now. Normally she has a large selection, but right now only her bean and squash pages are open. I have ordered from her many times, and have always been happy with my orders.

  • bloomwhereyourplanted28
    bloomwhereyourplanted28 Posts: 18 ✭✭✭

    Thank you for the seed source! She is probs going to get a lot more business! LOL I will go check it out. I love to support small businesses!

    Your the BEST! Cheers, Dash

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    @bloomwhereyourplanted28 absolutely love watching your presentations. Thank you.

  • Ruth Ann Reyes
    Ruth Ann Reyes Posts: 577 admin

    Squash bugs are evil!

  • thauke25
    thauke25 Posts: 1 ✭✭✭

    Dash - great presentation, I have fought and lost many a squash plant to the bugs BUT my Zucchino Rampicante produced so well we are still eating 2021 squash from the freezer. Our 2022 crop was just OK not great. I will be trying the Desi, Eight Ball and Poquito squash from Baker Creek seeds this year. By the way their merlot lettuce is fun and a good grower. I am on the north side of Austin for reference. Getting anxious to start planting something in hopes the 2023 garden makes up for the miserable 2022 garden (at least as far as tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers were concerned)