Slugs tonight....

I have a post-it note on our front door that reads “Slugs tonight…” to remind me and Jason to go out at dusk and bait the slug traps.  We pour cheap beer into old cat food cans, place them at the edges of the beds, nestle them into the ground so they are level with the soil and catch hundreds of slugs each night.  It’s gross and also exciting to see the cans full if slimy slugs suspended in the beer each morning.  

 

Yesterday, while doing my morning farm walk I observed some odd behavior around these slug traps. I saw the chickens come strutting over and eat the little beer-drowned slugs out of the cans.  They won’t eat the live ones, but wow, they sure do go after the dead beery ones!  It was also alarming to then see the dog emptying the slimy beer out of each can...yuck! I'm not entirely sure how, but a metaphor arose and while watching this scene play out between slugs, chickens, dog, and me, I was reminded of the essential essence of Spring.

 

Mid Spring is the time of year I deeply feel the innate urge for life that runs through all things. This impulse connects and holds us, suspended, within the web of life.    The same force that propels me to spend all day outside planting seeds is the same energy that drives the slugs out at night to feast on my pea seedlings. And the mice to my greenhouse to eat the tops off of my baby plants. The eagle to scope out my hens as a potential meal for their babies. We share the drive for life.

 

As growers, we plant food and flowers for ourselves, our communities and also for other beings.  We are lucky to be part of the cycle and accepting the truth that we share our gardens with many others is part of life as a grower. We don't get to harvest all we sow and that's ok. Being part of the web is the joy in it all. Spring is the season of babies and every family wants to feed their children to survive.  Eagles predate my chickens- but only in the Spring when they have young mouths to feed.  Mice scurry through my greenhouse at night to eat the tops off of my starts because they are growing children too.  I suppose slugs are exercising their drive for life as well when they slurp and slump out into the freshly planted beds each night to chow down.  Sometimes it feels like a miracle that we ever get to harvest anything at all.  But we do. There is enough for all.

 

I do trap the mice in the greenhouse, shoo away the eagle as best I can, and yes, bait and trap the slugs.  But (mostly ;) I am not mad or upset about losing leaves and plants. This farm would not be as lively and vibrant with out All of the creatures that live here, even the ones I consider pests. And they need to eat too. I am grateful for them, even as they undo my efforts. All of the beings need sustenance to live, just like me. And my interconnection with slugs, mice, and everything that eats out of this garden and beyond is part of the energy that flows through all things.

 

Here is a photo of the hens- Winnow and Wizard- finishing off some beer pickled slugs to inspire more deep thoughts of the interconnectedness of all things :)

Winnow and Wizard eating slugs from a slug trap....

Volunteer Days Are Coming

I am excited to announce that I will be hosting Volunteer days regularly throughout the season. I am going to start with Thursdays, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd from 10 am- 1 pm.  Please send me an email if you are interested in being on the volunteer contact list. You don't have to come every time of course. I'll send an email each week on Monday with the details for the upcoming Thursday and you can let me know if you can make it. If you have already let me know then you are on the list! I will plan June's volunteer days at the end of May as I see how this all flows. Join me on the farm as we prep beds, plant, build trellises and connect around our shared love of plants and seeds