MALF

i try 

NOT

to hate things

but

fire ants

i get bitten at least

once a day

granted i'm most often

barefoot

still

they're just 

mean ass

little f*ckers

The Eating of Pain

i watched a small winged one

eat fire ants today

kindred
feathered
soul
we
whose

insatiable hungers
precipitate
 embracing

 the eating
of

pain

Nosy Neighbors…...

What are these girls so curious about?

The little ones were being introduced today to

acclimate them being outside. Notice anything

a little….off? One of these new kids is a real Quack!

**Update on the fire ants in my raised garden bed….

After all that heating and pouring water on those mean little critters 

they were STILL there the next day. I mixed some Orange

Oil and Dawn Dish detergent with water then poured that

through. Today when I checked I only saw one 

straggler….so…fingers crossed. There's a new mound

a couple of feet away on the ground that I'm thinking is

their new digs. THAT I can handle.

Now…if the weather will stabilize so I can start planting. 

Out…Out…Damn Ant!

 yesterday afternoon was spent trying to get my raised beds

 ready for planting. i always leave the dead plants

over winter for the critters. i found two caterpillars and a

praying mantis egg sac that i relocated near the garden

while weeding and turning the soil (the grubs were fed to 

the chickens).   and…..of course…..there

were fire ants. today... for an hour... i boiled huge pots

of water and poured them through the bed…over and 

over ...for an hour. after waiting thirty minutes i took a 

shovel and turned the soil and those darn things just came

 pouring out. soooo…i boiled and poured for thirty more

 minutes turning the soil after each pour. i'll check again
tomorrow to see if i got them to move. (the wire and
bricks are to keep the neighbors cats from using the
beds as their personal potty until i get them planted and
mulched.)

as you can see the grass has grown up in the gravel over

the winter. here in the country we have bermuda grass that

runs up through everything. when i made this garden spot i

got a neighbor to use a bobcat to scrape and remove all the

grass…put down landscape paper…and a good four inches

of gravel but that doesn't stop MY grass. the good thing is

that it's easy to pull out….just time consuming (and back

breaking). i garden organically so i don't use any type of

chemicals for grass or pests. it's hard work but

definitely worth the battle.

now i'm sitting here with a sore back thinking of that first

asparagus quiche and fresh tomato sandwich…yum.

ant and grass skirmish to be continued….