Protection from... too much moisture from the ground that rots the fruit?

Thanks for that information. My butternut squash plants did lousy last year. It was the first time I grew them. But I have a couple of them coming back a valunteers this year. They seem to be growing nicely. So I will be using the cardboard.

Mitsy --- Protection isn't really the right word. More of a weed barrier so that the necessarily unmown area of grass doesn't hide the fruits (and drive Mark crazy. )

Mona --- We have a hard time not ending up overwhelmed with butternuts. Lack of light or nitrogen, though, can hold them back. Maybe that was your problem?

Watch out for slugs. I used this technique on some squash and beans. The beans didn't make it too far without leaves and the squash started looking pretty nasty. On the bright side, the slug-friendly environment allowed me to collect enough to feed my fish in the pond for a week. Now that nasty slug infestation has turned into small-mouth bass meat.

Everett --- It's interesting that people are always warning us about slugs with mulch. We have seen a slight increase since starting to use mulch, but definitely not the infestation others report. I suspect there must be some kind of imbalance that makes a garden likely to grow slugs, but can't quite figure out what it is. Maybe our slug numbers are just kept in check by our copious frogs, toads, salamanders, and turtles?

Nice work turning slugs into fish!