Fresh from the yarden

Today was our first harvest of heirloom yellow crookneck squash. This, with its showy giant flowers, has been an ornamental feature among the various other flowers in Mack's yard, and now it comes to the table for the first time this season. Tasty! We have hopes for much more, but we don't know which creatures are eyeing it. This is one of the things that we just plant among the flowers atop the ancient St. Augustine lawn in Mack's yard. The grass isn't dug up; just some soil and compost are dropped onto the lawn and then the seeds are pressed in. When the flowers and vegetables are done and the leaves of the flowers (including bulbs) are no longer carrying out photosynthesis, we just remove the brown and spent vegetal material and the grass grows through the dirt and compost. We do this in curving drifts, from the edges of the yard. Lettuce and English peas are done, so this squash represents the third crop from Mack's yard. There may or may not eventually be cucumbers, and we enjoy chiles of various sorts all the year 'round, from plants in pots.