Compost squash. (Pic's)

[bills]

Last year I had a spaghetti squash go bad on me before I had a chance to eat it, so I tossed it in one of my compost piles. It looks like it may have payed off, as there is a huge squash plant growing in it now. It has made that compost bin unusable mind you.

Good thing I have more than one bin!

I love spaghetti squash, and recommend squash lovers to give it a try, if you have enough garden space.

It's not the only squash I grow. This year I also have Hubbard, Butternut, Buttercup, and Zuchinni...way to much zuchinni.. One plant I lost the label to while it was still a seedling, I tagged as a mystery squash. Turns out that was a zuchinni too! I sure hope I can sell a mess of it, as the chickens don't like it, and I can only can/freeze so much of it.

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Have you looked into it close enough to see if there are squash in the compost? I like that idea of using the pallets for the walls of the compost pile. How did you latch yours together to still get in and turn it or do you bother?

 

[bills]

Have you looked into it close enough to see if there are squash in the compost? I like that idea of using the pallets for the walls of the compost pile. How did you latch yours together to still get in and turn it or do you bother?

Oh yes, there are several fruits growing. I had a few that had blossom end rot initially, but I have been better at watering and that has now stopped.

I actually hammered and screwed the back and side pallets together, and hinged the front ones, so I can swing them open. I use wire as a kind of a latch, so they stay closed when I am filling them. Pallets are free, and make for good ventilation for the pile, so they worked out really well. I know they won't last forever, so I will have to replace them eventually. At least the price is right!

 

[SewingDiva]

The same thing happened to us! We had some decorative mini squashes that we got at Costco and when they were spent we threw them onto one of our beds last winter. They composted and sprouted dozens of seedlings and we kept a few.

I love gardening "accidents" like this!

~Phyllis

 

[blurose]

That is a great squash plant you've got growing. I'm not that fond of spaghetti squash myself. Its something about my palate not expecting my "spaghetti" to be so sweet I guess. I had a similar thing happen to me years ago. I too had a compost bin, made very similar to the way yourn is. I woodscrewed three pallets together, leaving the front open, and then screwed a less wide scrap of wood across the front, leaving it only partially closed off at the bottom and open at the top. Anyway, I had eaten a store-bought acorn squash and threw the guts of it out in the compost bin without thinking about it further. The next summer I found a squash plant seedling growing up out of my compost bin. I had forgotten about eating the squash until then. I rescued it from my chickens and transplanted the seedling into my garden. I got three big beautiful acorn squashes to eat just before frost. What a bonus.

 

[chickensista]

A compost volunteer! LOL I lost one of my compost piles to wee bee pumpkins this year. I didn't get around to planting any pumpkins, so I've let it run wild. (biggest wee bee vines I've ever seen)

I love your pallet idea! Now I just have to get that pick-up so I have some way to haul the pallets.

Great pics - love your garden.
Terry

 

[rebbetzin]

Earlier this spring my neighbor gave me some Irises. I took a few shovelfulls of compost from the bottom of the compost bin to add to the soil. Now I have, I am not sure what coming up with the irises. Maybe a cucumber of some sort..... As soon as the flowers produce some fruit I will get a photo of them.

That is a very nice garden by the way!!