Are Guns Organic?

The IVF lab was packed, PACKED, this morning when I went in for my lab work. This would not seem surprising except this morning (depending on when you read this) was Sunday morning. Who knew that infertility clinics that were busy every single day of the week. I guess that ovulation happens all the day. Still it was surprising.

I spent the rest of the day working in the yard and the garden. This spring is really beautiful and I don't know if it's because I'm actually paying attention to it because I'm not working as hard or if we are really getting a nice extended spring this year. I did not mention this, but a couple of weeks ago, Dave and I were featured in the Charlotte Observer for practicing organic techniques in our vegetable garden. (I would link to the story, but it's no longer live). Although one might think the keyword in this story was "organic", truly the most important word is "practicing."

This point was brought home to us when we proudly walked out to survey our organic garden and saw that all our lettuce had been eaten. The two main culprits are slugs and bunnies. Personally, I think the bunnies were responsible for this lettuce-i-cide. (I blame the slugs for what I saw killed today). Being that we had just been featured as presumably being successful organic gardeners, I felt very much like a loser. I then recalled that last year we had really didn't get nearly what we planted because something....some DAMN BUNNY....kept eating our young vegetables.

"A gun. Is a gun organic?" I asked Dave. "If we shot it and ate it, would that be a natural gardening technique?"

Instead, I busted out the Deer and Rabbit repellent and marked around the garden. I'm not really sure it has worked. I'm not 100% convinced it wasn't slugs. However, we left a plate of beer out and didn't catch any slugs (or drunk rabbits), so I'm not sure they are the culprits either. I am spraying the heck out of everything with BT, a bacterium that makes worms stomachs explode. That is helping our cabbage and broccoli, but the bok choi and lettuce are really taking it hard.

I have to be honest that today I was feeling pretty damn rough as a gardener. I'd like to find a hobby thta doesn't make me feel so bad about myself. I feel behind on getting the seeds in and I'm really discouraged that some FREAKING evil animal is eating my seeds. I just want some lettuce. I'd like to actually have a few carrots make it. I HATE whoever ate my cilantro. And I had BETTER get some turnips and beets this year or someone or someTHING is going to pay (Bunny/slug, did you hear that?).

In other more pro-chemical warfare news, since I could not pull up ivy due to my surgery, Dave mowed it down and sprayed it with Round Up. It's Dead. I mean, it is dead dead. Not kinda dead. Not wounded and able to make a comeback. I mean the ivy is finally gone from the side of our house. Some of our greener neighbors say that Round Up is not a bad chemical because it becomes inert as soon as it touches the soil. Still. I was once again discouraged.

I can tell you right now that if I don't get some lettuce this year, I will seriously consider some chemicals in our garden. I don't mind hard labor. But when there are not fruits of my labor, something has got to give.