Little did I know in moving to "the country" that much fortitude would be required. Snakes, spiders, chiggers and frogs, all things this city girl would rather pretend did not exist. Spiders didn't take too much to overcome. Very few are poisonous and they eat bugs. Beware of large spider webs at night and don't be too freaked out by the ones that dig rather large holes and live in the ground.
And then there are the frogs. Lots and lots of frogs. Frogs eat bugs. Frogs will hop out of nowhere and scare the pants off of you. Though I have never actually lost my pants, I have learned to live with the frogs.
But the snakes? I tell myself that eventually I will have an unhappy encounter with a snake. Snakes eat bugs, snakes eat frogs, maybe snakes even eat rabbits. Rabbits eat green beans and lettuce, rabbits are bad. Does that bother you to know that I detest those cute little creatures? But I digress, back to the snakes. I do not relish the thought of the day I happen across a snake in my path. However, I take comfort in the fact that we have personally witnessed our chickens eating two small snakes. Here is to hoping that they will continue to keep the yard snake free!!
Unfortunately the chiggers continue to haunt hunt us and make being outside rather miserable. Every year we threaten to "go nuclear" and give up on the pursuit of a chemical free yard. This is our third summer and so far we have managed to make it organic. We have tried everything to repel and/or kill them but nothing has eliminated their stronghold on the yard. While the chickens have done a wonderful job of controlling many other insects in the yard, the chiggers continue to win the game. Well we might have finally found the solution!
It is not a solution that will eliminate them, but it is making being outdoors in the summer heat so much more enjoyable! Some might complain it is an eyesore, but I'll take the eyesore and leave the chiggers thank you very much. So what is our solution? An above ground pool we went out and bought after attempting to clean out the garage in 100+ degrees. In the week that we have had it, I don't think there has been a single chigger bite! It is so nice to be able to go out and pull a few weeds and then cool off in the pool. And even nicer to make it an entire week without chigger bites!!
Now back to the topic of fortitude, I must return to my pile of wormy peaches and practice the habit of fortitude. If someone would have told me a few years ago that I would pick 140 pounds of peaches and then have at least half of that pile of peaches contain "bonus material," I never would have believed them. Oh how far this city girl has come!
I do not recommend putting this many white peaches in a bag. Unfortunately many were quite bruised by the time we made it home.
Carrieg was the first to comment in response to our story:
Now, in no way do I condone the idea of growing weed, or smoking it for that matter. But I certainly never expected to read such a comment in relation to our backyard revolution! My immediate thought after reading Carrieg's comment was to wonder if she realized that scheduling gardening beginning at 8:30 PM would leave her gardening in the dark?
We all make choices with how we spend our time. Back in the med. school days, we learned to put a great price on family time. We also made the choice that once we had kids, Lord willing, I would stay home with them. When the Chicken Whisperer was born at the beginning of Matt's third year of med school, we faced taking out a much larger loan than we had planned. Choices. We are still paying on that debt today, but I wouldn't do it any other way if I had it to do over. I am certainly not trying to imply that Carrieg should not work or that being a stay at home mom is the right choice for everyone. It was the choice we made, and while it has not been without financial consequences, it has been a huge blessing.
Another choice we have made is to free our home from the bondage of television. I am sure this will be a theme we will discuss on this blog from time to time because of what a positive change it has been for our family. Just like our food revolution, we did it with baby steps, first by cutting cable, and then kicking out the tv set altogether! We still have access to nearly anything we might want to watch online, but our choices are then very intentional. We still have DVDs that can be watched on the computers, though Matt and I find that we are not nearly as entertained by movies now as we might have once been. Choices. May not be right for all, but have you considered lately how much time the television robs from your life? I am certain my photography hobby and gardening would never have happened if they were competing for my time with the television.
I can assure you that the only pot you will find around here is of the terra cotta variety. But this little exchange in the WFAA comments got me thinking about how we all make choices every single day. Our garden may not be the right choice at some point in the future, but for today it has been a wonderful opportunity for our family to learn, grow, play and eat together.