Rotten Plants & Rotten Guts

At the end of July I noticed powdery mildew, a fungal disease, starting in on the zucchini. I did nothing about it so, obviously, it got worse. One big reason for the disease, I'm sure, was the overcrowding. Another reason for it might have been the cold summer we have had. I went in the curcurbit patch last weekend to clean out some of the worst of the diseased leaves but ended up just pulling out a bunch of the plants because they were rotting at the base of the plant. Below is the rubbish I pulled out - and now I only have a partial-plant of summer squash, butternut squash, and a watermelon that hasn't grown in the last two months.

I had to harvest all my zucchinis when I pulled out the plants, but as you can tell it was time to do so anyway...

I went to the State Fair this past Sunday, and here is one of my favorite seed art portraits:

The largest pumpkin came in at 1186 lbs.

I have no idea the weight on this watermelon, but it is humongous.

Below are the zucchinis I would have been competing against. They are much larger than mine, but if I let mine go at the beginning of the season next year I am sure I will have ones these sizes or larger...



I ate way too much food and am still feeling slightly ill a couple of days later. Here is a complete list of the food I tried: corn dog, cheese curds, fresh cut fries, reuben pretzel, chocolate-filled churro w/caramel sauce, corn on the cob, Big Fat Bacon™ on a stick, pork chop on a stick, turkey leg, Spam dog, chocolate ice cream infused w/raspberry wine, honey ice cream, Sweet Martha's cookies, mini-donuts, Summit EPA, and Morgan Creek's Zeitgeist. Yes, no wonder I am sick.