For the last few years I have tried to garden as “organically” as possible, which means i haven’t used any pesticidea or herbicides and have tried to fertilize using just compost and manure. I have also prided myself on doing my own gardening, instead of hiring gardeners.

Ha. In these last few weeks everything changed. When I returned from vacation, every single sprout in my vegetable garden had been eaten. Every. Last. One. So, last weekend I replanted everything – kale, lettuce, radishes, beets, beans, carrots, parsnips and then liberally sprinkled everything with slug pellets. I looked for some of the copper wire stuff, but was unable to find any. Okay, so my garden isnt organic…but there are sprouts starting to appear?

The second thing that happened this week is that I hired a horticulturalist to come and look at the front yard (which I was starting to hate) and to make some decisions about what needed to be removed, moved or planted. He came on Wednesday with his team and we removed a lot of the weeds by taking out “pancakes” of soil and then replacing it with fresh soil. He also cut down a few self-seeded trees, moved a few shrubs and made some planting recommendations. The front garden looks fabulous as a result. 

This week: keeping the weeds under control.