strawberry love

My strawberries reddened in May and are now flowering so I might have two waves! This is my first go with the fruit. The University of Illinois has a wonderful site dedicated to Strawberries where I learned:

• The strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.
• On average, there are 200 seeds in a strawberry.
• Native forms of strawberries adapt to various climates and are indigenous to every major continent except Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Honestly, the strawberries in my garden take up a lot of room & most of the time aren't doing much. But since they are one of my favorite fruits they are a worth it in pain in the ass.

Sorry Slugs, I HATE you

Unlike us, birds and insects are not bound by fences or yards.

I've found snails to be prevalent in my garden and while I know any attempt to control them is ultimately futile I can discourage them from our garden through persistent deterrents.

• Know you have snails.
• Locate exactly where they hang out when they aren't eating your pretty plants.
• React in whatever way makes the most sense.

Know

Here's how I know I have snails: dried up trails of mucas like this. Ew.

Locate

• You know where they've been, now where did those slugs go? Follow those long skinny slimy paths to the nearby rocks, planters, and any other cool wet place.
• If you'd rather catch them in the act and you've got night lighting in your garden, you can collect them on plants and the soils surface
• I haven't yet figured out what their babies look like, nor have I dug slugs up, but I imagine this is what I'll be learning as I read more.

React

This is where trial and error and personal preference comes into play. Here are my notes:

Eggshells - slugs find the sharp edges uncool so I'm surrounding my precious rose plant with them (fingers crossed).
SlugSlaughter - I killed a few snails through smushing...oddly they eat their dead so this succeeded in attracting slugs to a carcass buffet (gross)
Eat em!- No joke there are sites with instructions on how you can prepare & eat slugs. How French.
Poison - Haven't tried this yet, but I'm intrigued!
Beer - legend has it that if you put bowls of beer, slugs will drown themselves. I didn't have this kind of luck but maybe they don't like Sam Adams.

Oranges

Another great fruit tree I've fallen in love with is the citrus family. Their sturdy leaves and jackpot yeilds never cease to amaze me.