Gray Henon wrote:Field rats and other critters will nibble on ours, best to get them in as soon as the vines die back.
Yea this year the rats have been working overtime it seems. about 20 of my dry corn plants were eaten. Last year the rats really started to work into the squash. Why not really. The food sits there for months. Perfect for fattening rats for the winter...
So this year has been wetter than the previous. I just harvested 16 butter cup squash(sept 16th). In all honesty I have yet to have squash which meets the criteria for harvesting. Skin is rarely hard enough for a finger nail. Stems always look softish.
I figure if the stem is rotting I might as well harvest. Some of the stems sort of crunched when cut with the pruners.. Feels like the west coast has different requirements than where its drier.
Rats told me it was time to harvest the corn. Now they are telling me its time to harvest the squash. I fully expect the rest of the squash which didn't seem ripe to have some of the flesh missing. Ive already lost 4 squash to the rats this year.