This morning I went down early to my raised beds to pick lettuce. I ended up with a large plastic continer of three different kinds of lettuce, some green, tinged with purple, some purple with oak tree type leaves and some just oval shaped green. Using my golf cart I went promptly up to the house to give the leaves a three step water bath, then ligthly folded them in a big white feed sack cloth and put in the fridge for later use.
Next early morning chore, was to go back to the beds and do some watering. I had left the hose on slow mode at one of the tomato plants. I moved it to the squash hills (three of them), the water was moving very slowly and I put it down on the ground. It was then that I noticed two bugs coming up out of the ground near the base of the plants. I picked them up and realized they must be squash bugs I took them over to the wall and using a brick, put an end to them. I went back and saw another one emerging from the ground. He met the same end. Apparently the water was forcing them to come topside.
This was a new garden experience for me. I went to all of the squash plants and repeated this same action until I had collected and disposed of around 12 of those squash bugs. Usually I discover them after they have done their damage. Hopefully I have saved my yellow crookneck squash for this year. Also I have learned a new trick. Flush out the bugs with a slow flowing water hose.
I share this story in case any of my online friends are not familiar with this safe way of ridding the garden of squash bugs. I do not know if it was just a happy coincidence that I found them at this stage of growth. In any event I will file this experience away to use another year. Of course, if you are averse to picking bugs with your bare hands, this may not be your cup of tea. As for me I would rather do that then lose my crop of yellow squash to a 1/2 inch bug.
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