Mrs. McGregor

I have lots of titles: daughter - sister - teacher - wife - mommy

But here's the latest: Mrs. McGregor.

I'm really going whole-hog on this gardening thing so I sure hope we have something to show for it by summer's end! This week I got most of the sprouts safely into their new dirt dwellings (still need to figure out how to trellis the peas and where to put the eventual 8-foot sunflowers.)

You all remember my first post about planting the seeds? Well, that's been the extent of the kids' involvement so far. I'm sure they'll get interested once we see some veggies growing, but for now the garden is just a big patch of dirt to them. Though L sure would love to get her hands in there. She is truly the messiest little girl I've ever encountered!

Things got off to a bit of a slow start after my initial seed-planting extravaganza. It was March and temps were too cold for the seed pots to be outside, so I set up a table in the guest room which I thought would provide enough light to get things started until I could move operations outside. Well, let me tell you. Unless you have all the fancy growing lights and warming trays, forget it! The seeds did sprout, but I soon faced nemesis #1:

They raced so quickly to grow toward the window light, the stems became too fragile to support their weight and they quickly died off. I replanted a few weeks later and put the seed pots on the front porch. They grew, too, and were looking promising until nemesis #2 arrived.

A roving band of nut-toting squirrels took a fancy to my yogurt cups and decided they would make the perfect place to stash their acorns. You can't imagine my horror one morning as I was leaving for school, all 3 kids in tow, when I found that dozens of seed pots had been dug up and scattered all over the porch. I tried to quickly right the upset pots, but wasn't sure how many seeds would actually grow after that. Once I got home, I pulled out every available screen to shield the pots from further abuse. My front porch looked like something out of a contruction dumpster for weeks while I feverishly guarded the seeds. Thankfully, most of the seeds did sprout, just in time for nemesis #3: too much rain and not enough sun.

For weeks on end, we had either a constant drizzle (which kept the seeds on the porch) or gray, cloudy days (and not enough sun to encourage proper growth.) I worried that once again, the stems were going to become weak and unstable for supporting the growing leaves. Every chance I got, I lined the seed pots on the sidewalk, dragging a dozen screens with me to keep the squirrel threat at bay. (Now I totally understand why my father-in-law keeps a hose hooked up to his bathroom sink with enough length to squirt it out the window at squirrels in his backyard. I thought he was just crazy, but now I'm just about that crazy, too!)

The sprouts finally got strong enough so that the screens weren't needed and the sun showed up for enough hours a day to ensure proper growth. Things were looking good but I knew nemesis #4 was next in line. This was the enemy, furry and cute though it may be, I had anticipated all along. And this is the enemy which now gives me my newest title: Mrs. McGregor.

The rabbits and I are about to throw down.

Our backyard borders a swath of thick brush, perfect for bunny bungalows. We know they're there, watching, waiting, planning a stealthy raid on flower and fruit. My trusty guard dog, Sophie, routinely chases them off the property but they regather their forces and slip past the fence time and again. Last summer, my beautiful million bells were their victim. This year I know they'll be plotting their biggest coup....a complete decimation of my veggie garden.

But I have a few tricks up my sleeve and an ace in my pocket...his name is 'Dad'.

My parents visited for the kids' birthday party last weekend and when Dad saw that I was ready to transplant the sprouts, he generously offered to install a fence around the garden. Words cannot express my delight when the next day, the entire perimeter was enclosed and the rabbits were dealt a setback.

Dad joked that instead of taking the rabbits 5 minutes to get into my garden, it will now take 15. However, I'm ready for the challenge and am putting my bets on a tasty homegrown salad sometime in late July. Stay tuned!