The heat spike of the previous blog has eased to the high 80’s, yielding nearly 10 pounds of summer squash in 4 days. This marks the first donation of surplus food to a local food bank. We’ve been overrun with squash and cucumbers, and that’s before the lemon cucumbers are coming on strong. Our one casualty was a partially sun-scalded bell pepper, which had to be picked long before turning its intended orange hue.
The July pickings total as follows (in pounds):
• Summer squash: 30 1/4
• Cucumbers: 15 1/2
• Swiss chard: 5 1/4
• Kale: 5 1/4
• Beans: 2
• Peppers: 1/4
• Lettuce: 6 1/4
• Tomatoes: 3/4
• Eggplant: 1
• Artichoke: 3/4
• Scallions: 1/2
• Basil: 1/8
• Strawberries: 10
• Blueberries: 1
• Peaches: 1/2
Grand Total: 80 (rounded off)
The sunflowers and yellow straightneck squash still appear to be competitive, thus said squash plant is now over 4 feet high, which makes for easier picking at times. A squash “tree” more than a bush. Today it looks as if the sunflowers took another bound upwards above 5 feet. Will the squash try it?