What a difference a day makes

Actually, it has been 28 days - four weeks.
Here's the beginning of the garden season...
and here we are mid-season.

This lush growth happened in spite of having three of those four weeks dealing out temperatures barely in the fifties. The plants were pretty much in a state of suspended animation - only the radishes kept plugging away.

Then, last week, in a glorious burst of 80's and even 90's a few times, with a good soaking storm passing through, the plants exploded into growth.

Now it's going to be a race to beat the midwest bug population to the harvest.

The same weather that nourishes and promotes the rapid plant growth, does the same thing for a multitude of BUGS. Bugs I've never seen before. Bugs that thumb their collective noses at any sort of spay, powder, traps or predator aimed at them. Bugs that unerringly hit the veggies on the very day they are ready to pick.

I love the garden. I don't mind the labor, I can work around the heat (although 5 a.m. is NOT my favorite time of day...), I can haul mulch by the truck load if that's what my garden needs. I can out-maneuver the rabbits, I can keep the deer at an acceptable distance (such as in the freezer), and I can "harvest" weeds.

But the bugs. When the bugs show up...IT'S WAR.

Stay tuned for reports from the frontlines of the battlefield....