Dear Friends and Gardeners, June 7, 2010

Dear Carol, Mary Ann, and all of our other friends,

Hi everyone! Sorry I was gone so long. I couldn’t tell you where I was because I left the older kids at home alone. I know, can you believe it? Diva is almost eighteen and ASW is fifteen and a half. My mother, sister and NGBF (non-gardening best friend), Aimee, kept watch over them, so they were a-okay. However, it didn’t seem like a good idea to shout out into cyberspace “Hey, I’m gone!”

As you can see from the lighthouse above, we were in the Outer Banks at Kill Devil Hills. It was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. We also visited Dollywood on the way, and I found it charming and not as hokey as I expected.

So, Diva was in charge of the garden, and she complained about it a lot, but who could blame her? I have a lot of containers, and they had to be watered everyday. All, but one were in great shape when I returned. As for it, I dragged the hose over and said,

“What’s up with this one?”

“I don’t like that one, so I didn’t really care, you know,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Now, she said she didn’t care, but she followed me all around the garden because she thought I was checking up on her. I was actually just enjoying what was now blooming. I suddenly realized she was standing almost on top of me trying to explain because the garden wasn’t perfect. I turned to her.

“Honey, it never is perfect,” I said, “You did great.”

And, that’s true because gardens are chock full of living plants and creatures, and, as we know, nothing on this Earth really ever is perfect no matter how much plastic surgery or teeth whitening you slap on.

The tomatoes are setting. (Thank you Lord for great tomato weather.)  I noticed cabbage loopers made mincemeat of my cabbages. I pulled up all but the red cabbages and tore off their lacework leaves. I then fed the whole mess to the chickens. Everyone rejoiced (except the cabbage loopers of course).

The worst pest in the garden at the moment is the freakin’ squash bugs. Friends expressed worry about my teens throwing a wild party while I was gone, but they didn’t. Instead, it was the squash bugs downing squash juice, swapping partners, and laying eggs amongst the leaves. I killed many mating pairs, but it was too dark last night to check for eggs.  This morning I continued the annihilation, and I enjoyed it.  Fortunately, I am back in time and only a few eggs were found. These I scraped off with my fingernails and squished between my fingers. There was no time for gloves. You must rid yourself of your squeamish side to be a gardener I think.

Or, perhaps, the gloves were simply “off.”  I hummed the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as I worked.

I find it very apropos.

Meanwhile, in spite of being away for a week, the garden looks pretty good. Daylilies are starting to bloom along with lots of other beautiful plants. However, everyone seems a bit squished for space so I’ve been editing some of my regulars and bringing them down to size.

I must be in a vigilante mood.