As Begun, So It Continues..

Hot.
Tired.
Sweaty.
Dirty.
And tired again.

But, the lettuces are out

and I found some little spinaches in an old bed

and there are some chards

and really pitiful looking brocoli

that I will eventually replace with flats

from the feed store. I know I will replace them,

but I planted them anyway. And I know

that the voles will attack the roots again,

but yet....

And while I worked the deep, dark dirt

I saw the bane of my existence,

the scourge of the earth,

my vilest enemy...

pillbugs.

Oh, you may wonder what could be so bad

about little, cute pillbugs. But do not

be fooled! They are destructive

prehistoric beasts that inhabit my yard

by the millions upon millions.

Dead of the summer, heat of the drought,

blazing sun or freezing cold, I have pillbugs.

They eat my tender seedlings and gnaw my full grown chard.

And they... they... they..

they crawl inside my tomatoes and I don't find

them until I slice them open.

I hate them and they are indestructable.

I pour DE onto the ground and they sleep in it.

I cover the earth with ashes from the woodstove

and they burrow into them.

I have poured pure Neem oil onto them and they bathe.

I went so far this past year as to make a very

nasty tobacco tea, made from soaking chaw

in boiling water for a day or two.

It could kill a full grown man (really, nicotine poisoning will kill you)

but it did not phase the pillbugs.

I am open for suggestions...

I just hope that these seedlings make it.

This is the old garden and will not really be used

this year. Instead I will use the nifty new garden

being tilled by the pig and the new long rows we

are going to put into the main field by the barn.

This old garden will be awash in volunteer tomatoes

that I will transplant into the big rows and maybe

I will use it for greens and lettuces and let the

strawberries really stretch out through it.

I still have some walking onions in it and my purple sage and lavender and thyme. Though I think I will move the lavender to a less rich part of the yard. I know I need to trim it up.
Oh, and basil grows gangbusters in the old garden.

I had basil stems/stalks as big around as my wrist

and as high as my head!

I think I will plants some there as well as in the main garden.

It is just great as a companion plant.

Tomorrow will be more hard labor.

I hate spring.

And now I have to go try to get all of the dirt out

from under my nails before I knead pizza dough.