Composting Cucurbits

My friends Ken and Gwen told me once that they call the newly sprouted squash and cucumber types of plants that volunteer in their garden each year cucurbits. They pull them all. Cucurbits, any of a variety of the climbing or trailing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, include squash, pumpkins, gourds, watermelons and cantaloupes. A clever enough sounding name, and because of the potential for cross pollination, pulling them seems a most appropriate choice. Except for the cucumbers, I gleaned the last harvest from my exhausted looking, over-produced, molding and beginning to die down cucurbit patch in my garden spot at the Happy Valley Community Gardens. I found acorn squash, spaghetti squash and one butternut squash hiding under the leaves.Cutting a few fresh flowers for my coffee table and harvesting a handful of green beans and peas, I also found a bunch more patty pan squash to bring home.Pulling the vines out after my harvest, they now fill the compost bin. Ken and Gwen were on my mind as I worked and I secretly thanked them for allowing me access to the cucumber patch in their backyard garden while they were on a recent RV trip up into lower British Columbia. How fun it always feels to tiptoe in and pick something from another's garden.

Except for a little patch of Swiss Chard, a few weeds and way too many horsetails, the spot where my squash patch was looks oddly empty now. I know I could have worked there a bit longer and done a more thorough job of cleaning out that garden bed, but I decided to stop and ponder my options first.
Should I pick up a bail of straw at the corner farm supply store to use as a winter cover for the beds as I clear them out? Or, is this a good time to plant those hollyhock seeds in anticipation of lovely blooms mid-summer next year? Maybe I could even plant a few of the cole crops that seem to do reasonably well here in the winter - kales, chards, maybe a winter lettuce.

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More pics from the Happy Valley Community Gardens.

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