I have always wanted a backyard garden. Of course living in Arizona presents some gardening challenges, such as 100 + temps most of the year, rock hard dirt instead of soil and itsy bitsy backyards taken up by the all necessary swimming pool and patio. Albeit these challenges I was set and determined to grow a garden that any Midwesterner would be proud of. So first things first, I obviously needed to start a compost pile to make up for the complete lack of usable soil in my yard. So for months I dedicatingly and persistently chopped and saved every morsel of compostable items from our household. Did you know dryer sheets can be composted? After only a few months of tending to my compost pile, I had beautiful, rich soil! I could hardly wait to get to Lowe's and purchase several pots. I had already ordered some heritage seeds from Victory seeds co. they had been sitting on my kitchen counter top, patiently waiting to be plopped into their compost pots. The day had come. I spent all of 3 days mixing, planting and watering my little seeds. I now had planted; carrots, onions, lemon basil, lemon balm, collard greens, kale, turnip greens, thyme, parsley and oregano. Oh the glory, oh the bountiful harvest I will have in just a few short weeks, my very own vegetables free from ecoli, pesticides and factory altered genetics.
Fast forward about 6 weeks.....................................................................
I had been watering my seedlings 2-3 times a day, moving them to better spots in the yard when they looked heat stroked and making sure they were happy. Mind you it is the end of summer ( I post on a whim). One morning I go outside to water all of my plants which are looking B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. by the way, thank you very much. And what do I find???? A bunch of pots with pathetic looking bare stems poking out in all of their bareness! Oh the shock! What the heck has happened to my lemon balm, my carrots, my KALE....NOT MY KALE! All that were spared was my basil a few carrots the turnip greens and the herbs which were up on the windowsill. Was it the dog, a bird, pests the kids??? No, this was to tidy a job for them. Each leaf was precisely picked off at the stem. I couldn't figure it out, no bugs in sight. The next morning I got up early to go check on what's left of my garden. What do I find in my near demolished collard green pot? The fattest, smuggest, green caterpillar I'd ever seen! He was to fat to escape. He might have even been cute if he hadn't just destroyed my poor little defenseless garden, the garden that had cost me about 20x's what I could have purchased it for at Sprout's. It all made sense now. A couple of days earlier, Britton had chopped down the overgrown, dead pineapple vines that ran along one side of the pool. A few times a year those vines were home to a huge population of beautiful butterflies that we loved to go out and admire. I guess there were still a few caterpillars left amongst the dead vines and when we chopped down their home they took refuge in my poor defenseless garden. Alas, I couldn't be to upset at the little guy. Don't get me wrong, I still tossed the little bugger into my bachelor neighbors house whom I'm sure doesn't have a garden of any kind.
The caterpillar incident took place about 2 months ago. I've moved on. I can look at butterflies and not wince now. After all, I still have a few happy plants growing away. The boys went out and picked there very first, very own baby carrot the other day! They were pretty impressed, which is what inspired me to grow a garden in the first place! Victory! They each plucked their carrot out of actual soil and stared at it in amazement. Jack said "Mommy! I just found a carrot!"
Nolan said "Oooooooo, cawoot!" We went inside and washed it off and to my amazement they both sat and nibbled their carrots away! Unbelievable! Mission accomplished! My children will know that vegetables actually come from hard work and nature and not the produce department.
