Weeding Day

Dave, here:

Extra Row Project’s “Weeding Day”
The extra row of squash, planted by Tucker Andrews off Nashville Road, is growing quite well and will be ready for harvesting in September.  But even with plastic placed around the plants and between rows, weeds have popped up. The row needed to be weeded to keep the squash plants strong and not have to compete with taller weeds.

On July 24th, Transition Town Jericho pulled together seven volunteers to come out to the field to get those weeds pulled. The day started off cool, with the warming sun soon hitting our backs. We were glad to be out early in the day before the heat became a challenge! At 180 yards, the squash row was pretty long, so we got to work and went quickly, getting the row cleared of weeds in just over half an hour. The weeds came up easily as a result of the recent rains.

It was great working in the field on a beautiful sunny day.  The squash plants had big leaves and trailer vines populated the aisles between the rows; we had to be careful where we stepped.  Among the squash leaves, we could see the little squash forming. Alongside the volunteers, there were plenty of bees buzzing around, pollinating the many squash flowers and varieties of field birds were singing their summer songs.  It made for a very pleasant experience.

A special thanks goes out to the volunteers who were able to come by to assist: 
Bill McMains, Amy and Steve Ludwin, Jessica Dion, Jason Gallet, Barbara Frankowski and Anne Clift.

Please watch for our squash harvest announcement coming up in September. Tucker advises leaving the squash in the field as long as possible, but will be watching for signs of an early frost; the harvest ideally completed before that occurs.