Cucurbit growing at Annapurna

For our first annual crops at Annapurna we decided to try a range of summer and winter squashes, also known as cucurbits. We eventually planted 45 cucurbits drip irrigated in sunken basins. We also planted 10 tomatoes but they did very poorly.

By the end of the season we harvested more than a hundred squash.

Will we repeat the success this year? We have chewed up a chunk of the field in a new compost courtyard but most of the site has remained available, and most of the drip lines are still in place.

I invited Neil from Kailash Group Gardens to check out the site for possible management this year. He was excited to tour it and has already made plans to begin cleanup and preparation for this season. Last year we had a minor infestation of squash beetles that was controlled by weekly inspection and manual beetle destruction. It worked well but was rather laborious. This year Neil is suggesting using pepper and neem sprays as a biological control.

So the answer to whether we will try again this year is a resounding YES! Stay tuned for further details.