Gah there's a killer in my garden

Blegh, cutworm. The bane of many a gardener has arrived at mine and eaten my beautiful zucchini as well as two of my green bean plants. After having a proper hissy fit in my backyard which I'm sure entertained my neighbors to no end I googled a bit and learned that cutworms thrive when a new garden plot is laid over grass (my new one is). Which explains why the kids' plot does not have any although last year it did.




No, I'm not staking the seedlings with toothpicks, it's a deterrent for the cutworm. Apparently collars made of newspaper, toilet paper roll tubes, aluminum foil or in this case toothpicks placed close to the seedling are supposed to deter the worm from wrapping itself around the stalk of the seedling. Cross your fingers and say a prayer this works. Oh and after the plant grows larger the cutworm is no longer a threat.

On a much happier note, the rest of the seeds continue to sprout. Here's a sampling of calendula, onion, broccoli, and radish.






I also noticed that our lone strawberry is ripening which meant I was laying out bird netting today. I've got the boys convinced that we need to let the berry ripen before picking and if a bird beats us to the punch there will be no way to convince them to wait on any berries from then on. I tried netting the blueberry bushes but ended up covered in netting myself. I opted for tying on strips of aluminum foil with nylon string. Again, let's pray it works. Also, the strawberry crowns are starting to grow green shoots which means I didn't kill them! Yay, definitely a two steps forward one step back kind of day.




On an unrelated note, I'm thankful for helpful neighbors and friends. Mr. Maricucu's job has him pretty busy and he was able to mow the backyard but had not yet done the front. Joking that the neighbors would soon show up with pitchforks because of the dandelion field we had growing up front we were blessedly surprised to see our front neighbor R. mowing the front lawn today. When I flagged him down he said he didn't know if Mr. Maricucu was busy with work, sick, etc. so he wanted to help. I'm in awe. In our life this is just the tip of the iceburg. R. and his wife P. brought us meals after having the baby, they fawn over our children every time they see the kids playing outside. My friend T. brought me a meal every week while I was pregnant with my baby girl. My friend M. checked in on me regularly and helped entertain my children during my last two pregnancies. This last pregnancy she was my doula - free of charge - for my absolutely amazing homebirth. Living 800+ miles away from my family my mom has always worried about Mr. Maricucu and me having to go at it alone for almost 9 years but I'd have to say that God has blessed my family with friends who have stepped in during many a time of need. Thank you all.