Pick-up Trucks Are Fun

Time again to top-dress the lawn so I headed down to my favorite nursery, the Natural Gardener, to get a cubic yard of compost. I love being able to drive out to the soil yard and play with the big trucks, like life-size Tonka toys.



For the record, a cubic yard of Turkey Farm compost fills the bed of the truck up to the rim and weighs about 1,100 lbs. I could definitely feel a difference when driving the truck up the hills on Mopac, but I just tried to stay in the slow lane so as not to piss off the suburban-driving soccer moms.

It took a couple hours of shoveling by me and Dan to cover the lawn, but I needed the exercise. The weather was perfect, upper 70's, dry, and not too windy. I feel good about treating my lawn right, but I'm pooped right now. (Pun intended)

To Pick or Not to Pick

So after 2 months of a record-breaking summer heat, I have exactly one Small Wonder winter squash growing on the vine. It seems kinda lonely but otherwise in pretty good shape (the picture was taken this morning.)

I wasn't a perfect gardener so I didn't record when I planted the vine but I know it was sometime in July. The packets say that the fruit is ready to pick in 75-80 days when the skin is tough. What the heck does tough mean, anyway? I bet I could take it in a fair fight. Anyhoo, that puts pickin' time this weekend (when I'll be out of town.)

On the one hand, I want to pick the squash before a swarm of squash borers find it and go to town on the only squash in town. On the other hand, when this one's picked (or devoured by bugs) I'll have nothing else to look forward to. The vine will be empty. I've seen lots of flower buds on it but they are all male flowers. Maybe I need to look into a different kind of fertilizer next time. Or maybe it was just a bum seed. Or maybe gardening is a lonely life.

Apparently gardening is a nuanced science as well as philosophy....