The Squash that Took over the World.

So, in my previous post, I mentioned that I had a crazy squash plant. Huge, monstrous, taking over whole garden growing in three separate cardinal directions, squash plant.
 Specifically, this plant is:
Cucurbita Maxima

It looked like this when I bought it, man that guys who sold it to me was weird. 

"Hey, wouldja mind taking a picture of me kissing this plant before you take it? I'm a little attached... emotionally."

Also known by its common name, the Hubbard Squash. It is a winter squash that I picked up at some point early this spring. I didn't choose it because of it's taste, or because I had a burning desire to see my three plot square foot garden overrun by a monster, but for a very, simple, reason.
It's called a Hubbard squash, and I was homesick.
Ker-what? You ask.  You see, my dad's side of the family, well part of it, was Hubbards. And because I know it was the Bixby part of the family that grew the fabulous, so I have heard, Bixby Melons, I thought that, in a round about way, maybe their adopted daughter would stretch her green thumbs and do her family heritage right. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Well. Did I ever.
Holy hand grenade. This is my garden squash plant.

This is the one Squash currently growing on it.

 There were two other, smaller squashes, but I think this monster devoured their souls. You did know that squash go to heaven, didn't you?(but that's another topic for another day)

Monster, alien, soul devouring squash.

Man, I can't wait to pick it and chop it up and roast it in my oven.

The Fruition. Or The time that I realized I grew stuff I could eat and it wasn't dead by accident.

 This is the first year since living in Nevada that I have been able to have a successful whole garden. I've used containers. I've planted in the ground, buckets, a really cool self watering garden. But they all kind of ended up a lot of work, but with no real end result that was in anyway satisfying unless I was a triage doctor in search of good one liners to use before sending a patient to the morgue.

In other words. They were usually dead by the end of July. Very dead. Desiccated, and very dead. Dust in the wind dead. And blown away by the wind dead. Get the picture? Kind of like this...

 

Yep. That's my garden in Fernley, 6 years ago. It was a little breezy that year.

Thankfully, this year I was able to actually grow things. Green things. And even to the point of eating some parts of these green things. HA-HA HA-HA. I built three 3x3 square garden boxes out of redwood, each 8 inches deep, lined with weed blocker, and then filled with Mel's Mix, which I mixed myself. The stuff labeled "Square Foot Garden Soil" was more expensive that making it myself, although would be a good time saver for someone making a smaller garden.

I bought most of my plants at the UNR Master Gardening Plant Sale in May, and they have done the best out of all my plants, excepting the Hubbard Squash, which you will see in a minute. That sale is the BEST garden plant find in the Reno area. I highly recommend getting in line that weekend morning. But please do so after I and my friends get there.

So, here are some pictures of my garden, currently. I have a giant sunflower that is about 8 feet tall with no flower yet, as well, and a giant bush of mint. Pictures of those will follow, next time.

 

Verbena.

Apparently my neighbors had Nasturtiums last year, because they grew up all over the edge of my boxes. And my tortoise, Fergus is pleased by this. (He eats them)

 My tomatoes are even starting to ripen! How exciting is that? I have green tomatoes, and stripey tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes, and salad tomatoes.. and...Now if only I kept the little popsicle stick with each of the plants to tell me which were which..... I guess, I just expected them to all die, regardless.

 I had to plant my favorite flowers, too. Gerbera Daisies. Got lots of flowers on this one little plant, each of those bare stems are from earlier this season.

 More flowers.

 This is a Cayenne Pepper plant. For once, there are more that one pepper, and the plant has FLOWERS for more. How crazy is that?

Ok, this is the Hubbard squash that has taken over 2 separate garden boxes, and ran over my yellow onions. I'll try to get the whole plant in a picture this weekend to show you how big it actually is.

 

  And, lastly, my basil.

I can't wait to see what the tomatoes look like when they're ripe. Nom Nom.