A robust tromboncino squash (and other squash musings)

An exuberant squash patch

I've been growing tromboncino squash for many years as an alternative to summer squash, which always seem to succumb to squash vine borers both in the Piedmont and in the mountains.  Not to mention squash bugs.

The C. moschata varieties (which include tromboncino) are somewhat hairy, and resistant to the moth that lays the eggs that become the squash vine borers (its larvae).

I even resorted this year (in my front beds) to growing butternuts (in addition to the tromboncino and another Mexican variety - Tatume) as an experiment.  I don't have room for butternuts to mature, for sure, but I thought, hmm, why not see what they taste like as immature squash?

They're not bad -- a interesting rich flavor compared to "normal" summer squash, with a dense texture to match.  I've been harvesting them at about 3 inches long.

But I've been amazed at how robust my squash plantings have been, both above and below in the raised beds.  The lower bed (in the picture) is amazing -- I was quite sure the local woodchuck would nibble the seedlings to nubbins, but they got beyond that size, and quickly attained a large tough quality (presumably) that wasn't appealing. (I've had them mow down young squash seedlings in the past).

So (thanks to a combination of planting late and circumstance), my squash vines look great -- we'll see if they produce (the lower bed is starting to flower now, but looks a bit nitrogen-rich, thanks to plentiful mushroom compost in the spring!)

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A gutter box planting

I walked down Haywood Street in West Asheville a couple of times today and yesterday, while getting my car window shield replaced (a chip morphed into a long crack on either side).

A high point were these "gutter" plantings, in ordinary galvanized gutters, filled with attractive sedums.

In the front, the owners had faced the gutters with brick. On the side, they were just suspended like miniature window boxes.

sedums in a window gutter

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Rudbeckia triloba and Ceratostigma (Plumago)

After the second season, the Rudbeckia triloba plants in front were unceremoniously moved to the back, above the wall.  It's a short-lived perennial species, but self-sows freely, in quantities not well-behaved in the full-sun conditions in front of my raised bed vegetables.

They don't flourish quite so well in partial shade, but that seems to be a good thing, and they're looking quite nice as the backdrop to the hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) that's also in flower right now.

Rudbeckia triloba and Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

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Brooklyn Bridge Park (in NYC)

It's always inspiring to read about new urban parks like this one; this article in the New York Times describes a vibrant, naturalistically-planted park full of meadows and other plantings.

Bringing nature to the city is a good thing.  And large scale plantings make a distinct difference in places where concrete is the norm.

It's inspiration for our smaller cities and towns, too, where perhaps we don't always value the green spaces that we have, and access to everyday nature, too.

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