Now if Only I Could Find a Possum�

2002-05-16

Summer slammed into us this weekend. Saturday was in the high 60's. Cool, pleasant, breezy. Spent a great deal of the day in my chair in the garden, reading. Sunday it was in the high 80's and felt hotter. Sweltering.

Everything wilted, including and especially me. The poor nasturtiums got fried. They looked like someone melted them. It's near the end of their season anyway, but it still makes me sad. They fill the garden with such joyful color. They were one of the very first things that I planted when we moved in. They covered the bare earth in no time at all. They are a wonderful flower for a beginning gardener. They pop up and quickly fill the empty spaces in a new garden. You can even eat them. They're related to watercress and taste pretty much the same.

I finally finished reading "Insects and Gardens." I liked reading it the garden and it hasn't been much fun to read outdoors until recently. I really like what this guy has to say. Basically he says that if you have bug problems in your garden, stop trying to fix them. All you do by spraying them with poison is throw things out of balance. You're more likely to kill the bugs that eat the bugs you want gone. The bugs you want dead will develop immunity and you will have sprayed poison around the place where you, your children and your pets live. Leave things alone and the bugs will maintain their own balance.

He also says to plant a variety of stuff. If you plant a whole lot of one thing (like a farm) it's a major attractant for bugs that feed on that kind of plant. I cram as much stuff as possible in the space I have. And don't be so neat. I especially like that one. If you leave some leaf litter, etc. around, predatory bugs have a place to hide. The less you meddle, the less you have to work. It may be because that's what I'm already doing, but I certainly like that advise.

Now if only I could get a possum to move in. My parents have one and they have very few snails and slugs. Little piles of snail shells in the corners, but no snails.

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