Took out the lettuce and gave the last of it to the chickens.  It made them very happy.  Lettuce, plus some blueberries that needed to go.  They were so excited!  Not putting anything in its place.  Ready to start backing off a bit.

Dear Rats,

I have to apologize for wrongly blaming you for the destruction in my garden and for the many scares I’ve experienced this summer.  You see, in typical “crazy female” fashion, I saw something scurry across the yard, bigger than a mouse or a mole, and immediately thought, “Rat Invasion!!!!”  Of course, the husband didn’t help matters when he first identified the vermin as “rat.”

Oh, but we were mistaken.  And now, looking at the images, I have no idea how I could have mistaken you for the true criminal.  If I’d put you side by side in a line up, I would have known. I would have been forced to  admit it wasn’t you.

For you see, as you already are well aware, rats look like this:

Your typical Rat

While the actual culprit looks like this:

The true criminal

Now, as anyone can see, looking at the two of  you, you’re not the same.  The blame must be placed where it belongs which is on the voles, those busy little demons who love to tunnel and dig and will gladly eat potatoes….and peas…and…well…anything else they can dig up.

So, I feel it necessary to publicly clear your good name, rats.  Though, I must admit, the very sound of that rolls oddly off my tongue.  You are innocent and thereby free to run and bring fear to the hearts of those who see you.  Just don’t get the bright idea to come to my house and eat stuff.  Cuz…the traps are still out…  I have voles to catch.

Sincerely,

A very apologetic gardener

Added June 11, 2010 – Rather than editing this article, I would like to add this brief statement.  The rats that I thought were rats weren’t rats at all, but voles.  I didn’t even know what a vole was until now, though I’d heard of them.  They’re much cuter than rats, but very destructive.  If I change rats to voles, my letter of apology won’t mean as much to the rats.  Soooooo it stays.  But it wasn’t rats.  It was voles.  With a “v.’  Not an “m.”  They don’t look alike at all.  Moles and voles.  Or voles and rats. Or rats and moles.  Oh, well.  Enough rambling. Apologies again to the rats.  But not the voles.

I’m all in favor of live and let live.  Until it comes to weeds and rats and mice.  Can’t forget those mice.

With the rain coming in sporadic buckets rather than nice showers, the weeds are growing faster than I can keep up.  And trying to get them out of the sugar snap peas is ridiculous.  If I don’t find a better way to deal with those stupid things, I’m not growing them any more.  Seriously, I’m done with them.

And as for the rats… Ya know, I like rodents.  Always have. Even the mice in the basement?  I hate having to kill them.  But they don’t seem to learn that my stuff isn’t their stuff.  And then, there are the rats.

When we first saw a rat outside back in the winter, Stormy had it hanging out of her mouth.  Later, there was one sitting out at the pile of junk we keep building on as we work around here.  I said something about getting rid of them; and Scott being Scott, the lover of all creatures, sort of cringed and said okay.

But nothing happened.  Then, they ate my peas before they could germinate and my strawberries before we could pick them and that meant war.  And BIG BIG traps.  And 3 dead rats. All was quiet for a while.

Until this week.  My potatoes started coming in.  The rats?  They like potatoes.  ALOT. So they ate them.  This time the little monsters were braver.  They’d sit and LOOK at me while they ate my potatoes.  Hey, anybody who’s watched Ratatouille knows rats eat everything and anything.  Only these didn’t seem willing to share their cooking secrets, just chew up half of a perfectly good potato.  Never eat the whole thing, mind you.  Just half so you knew they’d been to visit.  Somehow, that doesn’t seem very efficient.  I mean, wouldn’t you just eat the whole thing?  But, raw potatoes?  You’re really not supposed to eat those anyway.  Doesn’t seem to bother the rats, though.  War started again.  4 more dead rats.  And a mouse.  Casualty of war.  But then again….

While moving things around for the new summer harvest setup, I discovered a mouse in one of my bushel baskets. I picked up a stack of baskets and he was in the bottom one.  How could I see him in the bottom one if it was a stack?  Because he’d chewed through the other two baskets! So off to Tractor Supply for new baskets.  Grumbling, muttering, thinking bad things about Fievel, Stuart Little, and every other mouse I’ve ever heard of.

So that’s been my week.  The bright spots?  Chickens love the weeds and grass I pull and take to them.  Makes them happy.  Rats are about gone for now.  Veggies are starting to come in.  And the mice?  They’ve moved back into the basement.  Not such a bright spot for me, but they seem to be happy about it.

Well…you can’t win every battle.

There’ll be more tomorrow, but it’s always so wonderful to get that first one.  Spent the morning tying up the rest of the tomatoes and weeding.  I’ll be weeding all week.  Will have sugar snap peas by the end of the week.  First cherry tomato is starting to ripen.  Seems things are moving in fast forward.

I finally cut all heads today.  I’ve shared with neighbors and family and now will freeze the rest.  Last head is cooling now.  Waiting to see if we get more from the stalks.  I know we should, but if the weather stays hot, I doubt it.

Scott has some tilling to do so I can put out the rest of what I’ve got.  Found out today that my cousin’s husband likes onions.  Good thing I’ve got more to plant.  Oh, well…here we go again…;)

Squash, zucchini, cucumbers…blooming!  Typically means it won’t be long until we get something to harvest.  Still, we lose several of the first blooms.  Need to get some pictures tonight.  Also need to mow.

Donovan’s been sick since Sunday, so haven’t let him out.  Hopefully, tonight, he’ll be ready to go.  School tomorrow, then pool in Thursday.  My vacation is over.  Time to get back to work.

Took out the spinach and froze the little bit we had for vegetarian lasagna later.  Put potatoes in its place.  I’d like to put out one more round of radishes and lettuce and the rest of the potatoes I have before I quit planting. And I keep sticking onions everywhere.

Not looking for tomatoes until around July 4th, though I’m sure the cherries will be early.  I’d think squash, zukes, and cukes will be in before June is over.  I’m ready for some fresh stuff.  And now that school’s out, I’ll be able to get some things cooked and empty the freezer before I need the space.

Have enough chocolate mint to make a round of jelly and I’ll probably do that soon.  Need to get it gone and hopefully get another batch to make jelly before the summer’s over.

Got word that David would have berries before long.  I may go give them a look and get a few.  He’ll have blueberries, but not sure how many.

Thank you, God, for summer.  If you’d told me years ago this is what I’d do for summer, I would have laughed.  Now, it’s my life.

Yay!!!  We survived the rats and mice and managed to get peas to pop up through the surface.  They did that overnight, which just amazes me. Yesterday, there was nothing.  Today, they’re coming up like crazy.  This is my favorite part of gardening.  Watching everything come to life.  What a great experience.

Elijah sprayed the eggplant, cabbage, limas, and green beans yesterday to keep the bugs off.  I think he sprayed the peppers, too.  We weeded the limas and the lettuce, along with a couple of other rows.  Today, I want to get some more weeding done and plant my second round of squashes and cucumbers.  Also need to get my last round of potatoes in the ground and some more onions.  Still waiting to see if the peas will come up from this replant.

Last summer, I had to deal with snakes under the blackberry bramble.  Scared me to death and kept me from going out there alone for quite a while.  Scott’s promised me he’ll fix a walkway around the bush soon so I don’t have to panic quite as much.  See, the bramble sits on the edge of the ditch which is lined with rocks.

But this year…it’s rats.  And I’m not happy.  They’re eating my peas before they can come up.  I’m seriously considering just sitting out there all of the time to catch them.  Not bothering anything else.  Just the peas…

And the strawberries.  The June-bearing, not the day-neutrals.  Not happy.  Not one little bit.

But I don’t think the rat cares.