What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?
Pleasant Street resident Jenna Howard is providing updates on the peppers, squash and other vegetables growing in her plot at the new Burnham’s Field Community Garden. The reports and photos will allow GoodMorningGloucester viewers to follow the garden’s progress with a weekly answer to the question, “What’s New in Jenna’s Garden?”
By Jenna Howard
Week Nine
"It was a sad week in my garden. What was once a healthy, hardy pumpkin is now no more. In just a few days my pumpkin went from a 5 foot long, flourishing green vine to a mess of wilted brown and yellow leaves. All that is left is a greenish-yellow pumpkin that is about 6 inches in diameter. The pumpkin itself actually looks like it is on its way to being a big orange Jack-o-lantern! But unfortunately, from the looks of it, I’m sad to say it is dying. Even more upsetting is the fact that at this point in the season it is too late to grow another pumpkin in time for Halloween as pumpkins typically take 95 days to mature. Well, I guess there’s always next year! But what could have happened to my pumpkin?!"
Good Morning Gloucester 
possibly squash vine borers!
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Powdery mildew or bacterial wilt. If you cut a leaf near the stem end and it oozes something slimy–bacterial wilt. Ugh! No known cure so pull the plants to get it out of the soil and dispose in the trash not the compost. Sorry about your jackolantern to be : (
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looks like the work of the dreaded squash vine borer
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I’m going with a little bit of both..clearly mildew (all of my curcubit plants are succumbing)
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Rain…unnaturally high moisture content in the soil. If you do this next year, read up on “no till” agriculture. you don’t roto-til the soil bare. Instead you only turn a very narrow say 4-5 inches of sod. Leave the rest of the sod in place. This will most evenly distribute the moisture as well as retain it in the soil for plants. Another value: few weeds. Though even weeds serve a positive function in preserving soil conditions. The idea that they rob your plants of nutrients is a crock of shit. But then, as long as you do use _shit” in the garden everyone will have plenty to eat. Use dehydrated cow manure if you are not a lover of the odor.
Pull up you garden as early as you can this year and seed it with a thick sodding grass seed.
The next year you can cut the thin rows. You will be surprised at how great the production will be and you will rarely if even need to water.
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Don’t toss that pumpkin. It has a little orange on it and might continue to ripen on its own.
Toss the plant far far away, don’t compost it. It has wilt, transmitted by the squash bug. There are few organic pesticides that will fight the squash bug, but if you spot them early (orange eggs under the leaves) you might win the wilt battle next year. Don’t plant a vining plant in that space again for a couple of years.
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Thank you for the advice everyone! It’s much needed for this novice gardener as you can see.
I will keep these tips in mind for next year.
RIP mr jack-o-lantern.
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