My husband asks me every year, “If it’s called squash, why isn’t it flat?” I don’t have an answer for him. Not yet.

Growing squash is fun to do. There are many different varieties to choose from: zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, and so on. One thing that you must keep in mind, these plants take up a lot of horizontal space in your garden. That is, unless you grow them vertically, and there are structures that you can build to do just that.

Create a compost/soil mound and plant seeds (or start small seedlings) on this hill. The ultimate plant number per hill should be three. Make sure that you have left enough room, as this plant family, like zucchini, sprawls as it grows. Alternatively, build a teepee or trellis for the plant to grow on. This is space saving, but you will have to tie up the vine and offer support for the squash once the plant fruits.
For those veggie growers who never found success with growing squash, there is a simple explanation and it does not start with the phrase, “You have a brown thumb.”

Did you know that there are two different flowers on squash? This type of plant is called monoecious, a species having both sexes on the same plant, but in separate imperfect flowers. In other words, there is a male flower and there is a female flower. When the squash plant is young, frequently only the male flowers begin to bloom, prior to getting any female flowers. This is probably a good result, as the plant needs to mature to a greater size before producing a fruit anyway.

If you have ever watched a young squash developing, only to be disappointed because it shriveled up and dried out, don't be dismayed. You did not kill the squash, and the plant does not have a disease. The "fruit" simply was not properly fertilized. So, what does that have to do with you?

Go out to your garden. Early in the morning is the best time, because as the day progresses, the flowers slowly close. Each morning, go view your squash plants. Are there flowers blooming? If so, are they the male or the female flowers, or hopefully, both. The female flowers have an enlarged ovary behind the flower. This is the early squash. The male flowers are borne on a stem and you will notice no ovary behind the flower.

How to fertilize? (the "squash sex" part of this article) Cut or pinch off a male flower from the plant. Remove the bright yellow petals from the male flower. You will be left with the stamen full of pollen. Take that stamen and insert it into the female flower, touching the structure down inside the center of the petals called the pistil. This will fertilize the ovary, which is the early squash. Now watch and you will discover that the squash will come to its full size (the size, of course, being your choice before you remove it from the plant) without shriveling up.

Try this simple procedure this season and you'll be amazed at the results. You may not have a large enough harvest to feed the neighborhood, but you'll find a satisfying increase in production.

A little historical tidbit: The history of squash is tied to corn and beans. “In Iroquois mythology, corn, beans and squash were represented as three inseparable sisters."*

They planted into one mound seeds of maize, later beans and finally squash, because all three were eaten together.
Oh yes, and think of this. Pumpkins are squash too. Start a pumpkin plant now and have your very own pumpkins by Halloween. Have fun!

*Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser

There is just not much good one can say about thrips. They attack ornamental landscape plants, spread viruses, and simply make the foliage ugly and your plant sicker than it was. Many pests "move in" and make themselves at home when the health of a plant is poor. Thrips are no exception. In fact, they are most likely to attack a plant that is too dried out--especially if the foliage is dirty.

Thrips are microscopic and look like elongated black flies. They may be tiny, but the damage that they cause is not. And that damage is quite characteristic, and easily identified. The foliage becomes silvery or bronze and stippled, because thrips are both chewers and suckers. There can be a blackish deposit from their presence, and often the plant will develop sooty mold as well.

The natural predators to thrips include parasitoid wasps, soldier beetles, and green lacewings and their larvae. Spraying with insecticidal soaps can also help. If their presence is minimal, cut, remove, and destroy the infested foliage.

In severe cases, other insecticides can be used to treat an infected plant. Talk to one of our salespeople to determine not only the right product but also the right time in the season for treatment.

Remember--during hot, dry weather, one of your best protections is to make sure your plants have the appropriate amount of water and fertilizers to keep them healthy.

The term "soil" is commonly used by all of us. However, we think that the average interpretation and understanding of the word "soil " are highly variable. "How about a primer on soils?" customers have asked. We agree.

"Soil: the top layer of the earth's surface, suitable for the growth of plant life." Well, that doesn't really help much, no thanks to the dictionary.

So what is soil? It is former rocks, seashells, critters, plants, water and air.

In a more classic sense, soil is made up of minerals, air, water and organic materials. The percent of each of the components present in our soil is demonstrated in this pie chart.

The Organics: A Small but Mighty Contribution

There is a soil food web: a large community of plants and organisms, each of which contributes to making our soil healthy. Plants photosynthesize, fix carbon dioxide and release oxygen, that stuff we need to breathe with. Plants decompose and add organic matter to the soil.

Decomposers (bacteria and fungi) help to break down the organic material and make it available to plants and animals. Bacterial and fungal feeders (nematodes and tiny arthropods, etc.) control many diseases and pests in the soil. Shredders, such as the earthworm, shred the plant litter. Earthworms enhance the soil structure (with earthworm castings and by aerating the soil) as they produce fecal pellets (aka: poop) and burrow in the soil. There are even above ground level predators such as mice, shrews, birds and others, feeding upon some of these subterranean creatures.

So as you may not have imagined, the soil is a living place for many--and a highly complex community at that. In addition, it is an important ecosystem that we humans, gardeners and non-gardeners, need to understand, protect and keep healthy. You cannot keep all of these creatures alive and well by over-spraying with herbicides and pesticides. There must be a balance, of course.

The Minerals

The mineral composition of your soil will vary depending upon your geographical location. This portion comes from the rocks and shells deposited long, long ago. There can even be variation on your own little plot of land, sometimes within just a few feet. The native mineral composition may be mixed or covered over by topsoil from another location that was brought in during the building of the house. How can you know if you have different types of soil on your property?

There are several simple tests that you can do at home. One is collecting small scoops of soil from different areas of your yard, especially if you suspect that you have a variation. Note the color of the soil while wet. Let it dry out. Note the color. If the soil color when wet and the color when dry is different in each location, then you may have different soil composition. Will that matter to how your plants grow? Probably not. But if one area in your garden is a problem, perhaps that is a good area to sample and send off to the county soil testing lab.

Do you have sand, silt or clay soil? And how much organic material is in your soil? You can answer that with another simple test. This one is fun to do with your children.

Get a clear, straight-sided jar with lid. Fill it about 3/4 full of soil from one location in your yard. Add water to within 1 inch of the top of the jar. Add about 4 teaspoons of Calgon (or a like product). Tighten the lid. Mix for 20 minutes (rotating the jar 180 degrees to fully mix). Set the bottle down and follow the time line below:

1. After 40 seconds, mark the sediment level of what has reached the bottom.
2. This is the sand layer, made up of the heaviest mineral particles.
3. After 30 minutes, mark the next sediment level. This is the silt layer.
4. The next day, mark the 3^rd layer. This is the clay layer, made up of the lightest mineral particles.

At the end of this test, you will see layers of soil in your jar. They may not be equal. You might not see any sand, just all silt and/or clay or vice versa. Another layer that may appear on top of the clay layer, if you are lucky(!), is the organic layer.

You may already have a sense of what your soil type is by the ease or difficulty in digging in the garden. Clay soil, especially un-amended clay soil, is hard to dig in. Sandy soil, of course, is not hard to dig, but the hole that you are digging keeps refilling as the sand pours back with each shovel removal.

The Water

You can purchase water measurement probes at your garden center to measure the water content of your soil. What they really measure is the electrical conductivity of the soil, which in turn is translated to a moisture factor. Or you can simply look at your soil. If you have sandy soil and it rapidly sifts through your fingers, it is probably a bit dry. If you have clay soil and you can see cracks like the San Andreas Fault, it is probably too dry. Conversely, you never want your soil, sandy or clay, to be super-saturated with water, which would be demonstrated by a site that has standing water all of the time.

The Air

The amount of air space in your soil is controlled by everything described above. It is dependent upon the type of mineral composition, the amount of organic material, and the amount of water. Too much water, too few minerals (as in lots of clay particles) with no organic material would not allow any room for air. What is a solution for this? Amend your soil.

In fact, in the end, one of the best solutions to contribute to the health of your soil is to mulch, mulch, mulch! As the organic mulch material decomposes, it provides a "home" and food source for microorganisms, fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and so on and so on. Encouraging this healthy ecosystem to thrive will build healthy soil in your garden. How simple is that?

Tamara was born and raised in Oklahoma City. Coming to Humboldt, CA one summer to study Transcendental Meditation, she decided to pursue this further and spent 9 months in Europe becoming a TM teacher. Upon returning, she moved to California with her husband, and their daughter was born. Her daughter grew up attending school in Cupertino.

Tamara enjoyed working many years at Apple Computer, but her favorite company was the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, where she worked in their Environmental Program. Environmental issues are near and dear to her heart. (Are you composting yet?)

She has studied photography at SJSU and is currently a full time student in the Environmental Horticulture and Design Program at Foothill College. She is certified as a Pilates instructor, enjoys yoga, hiking, dancing and, of course, gardening.

My Celebrity Service staff and I look forward to serving you this year. We'll go out of our way to make your day!

Matt Lepow - President