Squash Love Dead Animals…

*video coming soon*

One technique I’ve learned recently is that burying any dead farm animals, rodents, birds, or even fish below your squash is an instant hack for getting huge, healthy squash plants. The root systems of squashes and cucurbit plants (squash, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, etc, etc) in particular help facilitate the decomposition and absorbption of the decaying carcass. The best way to do this is right before you plant your seeds or transplant your plants; burying the dead animal about 3 feet into the soil if possible. If you’re unable to bury it that deep, just make sure to cover it up enough to mask the scent; if you or a dog can smell it, any passing animals are going to smell it too… and then dig it up :( After burying the dead animal, cover them back up with soil until it’s the same level as the surrounding ground, then plant your seeds or transplant your squash from your greenhouse/pots. If you have an animal death in the midst of your squash already growing, you can dig a hole a couple of feet (I’d say anowhere from 2-4 feet) away from your squash plant and bury the animal there. I buried a dead red finch that passed away next to me with a cantaloupe plant this year (2026) and made a small offering & gravestone out of a branch for him… and the cantaloupe grew almost 3 times as much as the other nearby cantaloupe; despite both getting the same frequency of homemade fertilizer.