Jerks in the Garden

Just when you begin to fancy your thumb greener than you expected...You might even start feeling a little proud of your efforts to protect and nourish those once cute and tender lettuce starts. Perhaps you're seeing the fruits of your success in nurturing them into prolific, lush, salad-producing plants a la this:

Fancy that. Nice work, you! But then you notice things have started to look a little less than savory:

Grrrrr....Seriously, what is that? Upon closer investigation, you find the culprit(s):

Oh nature...you saucy minx. Just when I think I've figured you out, you throw this curveball in the shape of these hungry crawlers. Can't say the kids book didn't warn us. Thank you farmers who actually do this for a living and not a hobby. To that end, what do you do about these jerks?

Signs of Spring

Signs of spring surround us. We can't escape the sneezing and stuffy noses that herald allergy season. Store shelves are brimming with bright-colored candied eggs and chocolate bunnies. Sales tags betray store buyers' optimism post-passover. (We literally just bought 5 - 1 lb. boxes of matzah for $2.49! Who doesn't love a nice Jewish bargain?) And the lush green hills and flowers all but make us forget the drought that continues to prey on agricultural land in other parts of the state. Nothing so encompasses the taste of spring for me as a bowl of matzah ball soup. Just right after a day planting a tender patio garden. Perfect for evenings still tempered by a chill but light enough to have us looking ahead to summer's warm tomorrows.