Holy squash and zucchini!

Holy squash and zucchini!  There is quite bit of summer squash in the shares this week.  It is time to get it while the getting is good.  We are loading you up because we don’t know how long it will stick around!  We should have more next week but after that, who knows!  The squash bugs and fungus spread by the wet weather could take it down at any time.  We have a second succession of squash and zucchini planted but whether or not that will pan out is anybody’s guess.     
 
Don’t temp fate.  Think I am superstitious for fearing I would jinx myself by mentioning Squash Vine Borers in last week’s newsletter?  Well, then you will never believe what I saw this week.  That’s right, the very first SVB moth I have ever seen on our farm.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Next time I am trusting my superstitious instincts and keeping my big mouth shut!
 
Gentlemen, sharpen your hoes.  It is June and that means it is time to roll up our sleeves and get serious about weeding.  Sure, there is still some planting to do here and there – more watermelon and cantaloupe, long beans and purple hull peas.  But for the most part the summer garden is in the ground.  The melon vines are reaching out, the okra has sprouted and the tomatoes are setting green fruit.   In the past we have had the unpleasant experience of turning around after the flurry of planting in April and May to find that the weeds are fast taking over the garden.  This year we are in better shape.  I wouldn’t say we are on top of things, but we are slightly less behind.   We hoed all the cucurbits in May.  All the peppers and eggplant have already had a first round of weeding.  How did we get all this done in such an uncharacteristically timely manner?   Mostly by neglecting the spring garden.  Somehow, there is just never enough time.   
 
The relentless wet weather has made hoeing and cultivating with the rototiller impossible for the past ten days.  I have had to wait and watch, powerless as the carpet of grass transforms the okra and sweet potato patch from brown soil to a sea of green.   It is a slow form of torture.  But the forecast has a little dry weather in it and I am hoping to get after those weeds this week.
 
Animal Update.  On the livestock front, we have a wobbly goat.  Last Friday I noticed Apricot was unsteady on her hind legs and walking as if she were drunk.  A little research and advice-seeking later we decided that the problem was most likely meningeal worms.  The true host of this parasite is white-tailed deer.  It is transmitted through slugs, which can be eaten accidentally by goats.  The parasite gets in the spinal column and eventually the brain.  There is no definitive diagnosis except after death.  So we jumped to it and are treating Apricot with high doses of fenbendazole, a goat wormer.  Luckily, risks associated with the treatment are low, so even if we are wrong about the diagnosis we aren’t going to hurt her with the treatment.  We caught it early, so her outlook is good, although she may have some permanent nerve damage.  She already seems better than she did on Friday.