A Garden Whine

It has been unseasonably cool and wet here. So cool that my heat turns on and it is set at 65degrees. It is so wet that your feet squish and splash up onto your legs while walking on the grass. Then there is the garden and the slug problems. Strawberries are ripening and rotting at the same time. Vegetable starter plants are being eaten by the slugs. I can imagine them on the backs of slugs as they slither on down the garden path.

I am on a vegetable garden rant. All winter we plan and work the yard getting it ready for the garden. We buy starter plants, seeds, compost and soil in anticipation of planting. We wait for the soil to warm up and plant. Excitement ensues in anticipation of the harvest.

What happened this year is the weather turned ugly and nasty. Warning to all readers, this will be gross. My lettuce which is growing well, but it takes up to 30 minutes to clean. Each Romaine leaf has to be individually washed and de-slugged. This same washing procedure has to be used with the spinach which is kind of tough. Yes thick and tough spinach! After all the lettuce is washed I put it in a plastic bag. Yesterday when I took out some lettuce, there were slugs. They had been eating on the leaves so there were holes. Live slugs and holes on my cleaned and refrigerator lettuce leaves were just too much for me. I think the slugs hatched in my refrigerator.

I am trying to wait for the sun before I re- plant the missing vegetables. I am hoping it is soon. I had dreams of eggplants, melons, cucumbers, and of course sweet tomatoes. Strawberries may be a lost cause, and melons a memory but I am forever the optimist.