Just what I needed, A Nice Spring Manicure

Spring.  Nice to see you again. It has been a long time.

What a relief.

My husband jokes that I am like a flower. He says I stay in hibernation all winter and that I finally come into blossom at the same time as the crocus.

Although I've never thought about it that way---he is right. I pretty much hide in a deep dark hole and complain about winter until the daffodils and crocus start to poke their little heads out of the ground.  Then I do too.

Then I feel like a new woman. I start to get excited. I start new projects and dream, dream, dream about gardening.

This year was no exception. The first pretty day A. James and I went out to my grandfather's house where our garden will be this year.

We had pulled up the 50 tomato stakes the day before (we are moving them to another spot---crop rotation) and I cleaned off the old, dead vines while A. James dug in the mud.

It was a lot of work and almost every finger had at least one blister----but it felt great to have it done.

At home we cleaned out our small raised beds in the backyard and found a few unexpected visitors. Some of my lettuce had re-seeded itself and I have three nice size lettuces already growing in the back yard. Seeing life against so much death and debris is a welcome sight. A. James was excited about all of the tiny little snails and slugs inside the wheelbarrow----I was a little less excited about all of the slugs. She asked "why" when I asked her to move them to the back corner of the yard. I told her that slugs and snails like to eat garden food and our strawberries so we should move them elsewhere.

She then---very wise and enlightened--- said these words.

"Mama, we can't eat all of this food. We have to share with the slugs and snails. Be nice and share."

Just when I thought she wasn't listening to anything I was telling her.

She is right.

They always say plant enough for you and the bugs, deer, and other wildlife too. Even after I explained that the slugs could find something else to eat---she says, "But lettuce is good. They like lettuce. Let's plant some just for them to eat."

So I guess I'll be planting fancy organic lettuce for the slugs this year.  You've won slugs---enjoy your lettuce, but the minute you start in one mine I'm waiting until she is asleep and I'm going to put out my beer slug traps.