Winter crop in buckets is what I am thinking of, but how to heat it? Heating bricks in the oven, laying them under the container with plastic over it might work, but a squash loves hot weather. Panty hose or cheap knee highs cut into strips not cut or separated making a continuous strip would be a nice wrap, but what about mildew? With the weather making it rain 3 days a week, got rain again today, the plant will die of powdery mildew. Growing in a container with a cover over them will be the only guarantee, but if a bug should slip in there, it will be a waste of time. Don't the squash bugs stop laying around July? Both bugs are supposed to, do they really stop laying eggs, any one from Tennessee in zone 7 near clarskville know if they do? This is my second failed year at squash and it's my favorite. Totally disappointing. I'm reading every post to see if I can get some ideas. Good luck on yours!

Here is what I found on the topic in somewhat more detail Aluminum foil mulches have been successfully used to reduce transmission of aphid-borne viruses in summer squashes, melons, and other susceptible vegetables. They repel invading aphid populations, reducing numbers on seedlings and small plants. However, as plants grow, aluminum foil mulches give mixed results for aphid control; they seem to repel natural enemies of aphids as well as aphids. The few aphids that do drift onto plants grow and reproduce with greater speed than those landing on plants growing in bare soil because temperatures are higher on the aluminum foil-mulched plants. Yields of vegetables grown on aluminum foil mulches are usually increased, despite higher aphids numbers, by the greater amount of solar energy reflecting on leaves. (Info from provided link) So pros and cons Mark Here is a link that might be useful: Aphid fact sheet

Hi Cha Cha, Your garden looks great! I only managed to get 2 beds covered with weedblock and aluminet and planted before I injured my back. I couldn't do much in the garden for a couple of months and the cabbages, broccoli, and artichokes I had planted were pretty much on their own (except for the watering set up on an automatic timer). Everything really grew great, but I did have some aphids and earwigs. They weren't on all of the plants and not bad enough to kill any, but still they were there. (Last year the aphids totally destroyed a couple of my plants even though I tried to take steps to eliminate them). A few weeks ago I finally finished covering my other raised beds and got in my cukes, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. So far, so good. It's hard at this point to really assess the benefits of the aluminet as there are so many variables (weather, watering, etc.), so to get more of an objective measure of things, I went out at noon with a digital probe kitchen themometer and took the following readings (air temp as per wunderground for our city was 90): At 3" deep (dry soil)- Plain uncovered soil: 82 Weedblock (black): 89 Aluminet: 80 At 6" deep (dry soil), all of the readings were 74 So the aluminet would seem to help keep the roots cooler towards the surface (at least with current air temperatures). We're supposed to get into the 100's this coming weekend, so I'll go out around 2 or 3pm (after the soil has warmed up more) and try my measurements again. Stay tuned! Anne

I have a CC with a grill and it is relatively easy to clean and maintain. Before first use, I lined it with foil like in Trevor's video on his Eurostoves website. With the exception of lining it with foil, I treat it like my outdoor grill. When I'm done grilling, I crank up the heat and let it carbonize the bits on the grate. I sometimes do this while I'm eating, especially if it's just a quick meal. Then, when it's done smoking and still hot, I use an outdoor grill brush with stainless steel bristles and give it a good brush, pushing bits and dust down. I also wipe up any grease in the grease catcher on the front of the grill rather than push the grease into the hole to the drip pan. Then I let it cool and put the cover back on. The next time I need it, I just remove the cover and turn it on. On one occasion I didn't clean it afterwards. As a result, I had to clean the grill with the above method before I used it. The process also served to preheat the grill but it also took longer to begin cooking. I've used my range for about 10 months now and I have only done a full clean to it once about two months ago. I was kind of surprised that it was cleaner than I thought. After breaking it down, just wiped down the insides and used some BKF in a couple of spots. Then I replaced the foil. I also noticed that there wasn't a lot of grease in the drip tray. Just a few spots on the foil. Compare that to my Weber where the area below the burners is full of grease and grease saturated bits. I've had grease fires on the Weber, but never on the CC. My guess is that it's partly due to the design of the grates. The grates have channels/runnels that send the excess grease to the grease catcher in front. The ceramic racks underneath were just washed in the sink and air dried. Once I put it it all back togeher, I fired it up and let it smoke out before shutting it down and covering it again. I'm thinking that this full clean may only be a yearly thing for me. I think at a minimum I'll just inspect the foil going forward and clean it if necessary.