If you grow squash east of the Rocky Mountains, the squash vine borer will eventually take your plants. This episode covers everything you need to know to prevent it: the prevention window (April and May, before the moth flies), how row cover works and when to remove it, stem wrapping for large plantings, and how to surgically extract a borer from a stem before the plant collapses. Plus: the single visual signal — a tiny hole at the stem base with orange frass — that most gardeners see and ignore, and what it means. Farm Fresh Homestead — practical, honest homesteading from someone who has lost more squash than she'd like to admit. New episodes weekly.