In case you're wondering, grubs Do NOT eat Asparagus or Iris Bulbs!
I know this because the only green spots in the 40x40-ish garden are asparagus, irises and !!!
With all of the excitement I could muster, I set to the task of planting a vegetable garden at our new home in Kansas, envisioning baskets overflowing with homegrown goodness! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I, armed with gardening gloves and a can-do attitude, set out to cultivate my green paradise.
With great care and enthusiasm, I tilled the soil, (thanks to the new Bush Hog Tiller PTO implement on my baby John Deere tractor!), planted my seeds, and sang them sweet lullabies.
Days turned into weeks, and soon tiny sprouts began to peek through the soil, tender and promising. Little did I know, the plot twist awaited! One morning, as I gleefully skipped to check on my leafy babies, I was met with a sight that could rival any Shakespearean tragedy - grubs, the sneaky little villains, had feasted upon my cherished greens! It was a massacre, a veggie Armageddon, right in my backyard.
I'll spare you the dramatic reenactment of my wailing and gnashing of teeth. Picture a mix of despair, disbelief, and a touch of melodramatic flair. Yes, the grubs had struck, leaving behind a battleground carnage.
And so, with a heavy heart and a newfound respect for the resilience of nature (and perhaps a dash of spite towards those pesky grubs), I have resolved to start afresh. Armed with the phone number of a local exterminator, prayers to the gardening gods, and maybe a sprinkle of fairy dust and, grub repellant, for good measure, I vowed to replant, determined to outwit these gobbling fiends! Onto less cringy topics: Our new SHEEP! We got one pair of Katahdin bottle babies back in February... One of them, Stewie, didn't make it. We took him to the vet, and did everything in our power, but he just wasn't strong enough. Barbie-Q, our breeding Ewe, was queen over all she saw for quite a while! She spent about three weeks in a diaper, living inside our house, as our barn was far too cold for a single, tiny lamb, with no wooly mama to keep her warm. She and Gracie, our Newfie-Poodle mix became fast friends, and Grace is now a livestock guardian in addition to her inside job as a family dog. She hangs out with the sheep during the day, and with her human family at night. She is the second-best dog ever known to man..the first being Logan the Wonder Dog...but that's a post for another day.
We still bottle feed the two youngest sheep, Lunch and Dinner. They are about ten days old now, and thriving! They have been spending much of every day outdoors, learning to graze on the weeds in our yard. Thankfully, they are down to three bottles per day, but they will be much larger than Barbie and Chop. Oh yeah...I need to tell you about Chop! Evan and I drove three hours each direction to meet Chop. He was about three weeks old He's such a sweetie. Pure Katahdin, though not registered, and will make beautiful babies with Barbie.) Chop is a sweet boy. He has little brown tips on his ears and a couple of brown spots on his back. He's going to make a good baby-daddy for Barbie. I'm blown away by how quickly they have grown, and how gentle they are compared to our goats a few years ago! No pen was strong enough for those little guys!
Alas, the saga of my veggie garden is on pause, as I get an exterminator to help with the drama... a tale of triumphs and tribulations, of growth and grub warfare. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter, where I either emerge victorious or head back to the produce aisle at the grocery store. Remember, and sheep pellets are the best fertilizer. Yours in greenery, shepherding, and grub battles,
Jen - The Unbowed
Vegetable-Garden-Mishaps-and-Sheep, garden chaos, lambs
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