Every spring, I have high hopes for an abundant crop of butternut squash, watermelons, zucchini squash, and pumpkins.  Every year, I make my hills, plant my seeds, and wait for them to sprout.  Every year they sprout, take off beautifully, and form nice plants.  Every year, about half way through the season, they start to wilt, and die a slow, painful to watch, death. I  have narrowed the problem down to either a disease or plant virus, herbicide drift from neighboring fields, or an annoying creature known as the squash vine borer.  I am going to go with the last choice, and try one more season to get the crops I have dreamed about. For those of you experiencing the same problems, here is a link to a site that has useful info on how to identify the squash vine borer, and how to deal with it in a safe, organic way. SQUASH VINE BORER INFO