I seem to think about writing in this thing primarily on gross rainy days. Therefore I won't foist another set of gray pictures on you. Instead, I will talk about something I don't have a good enough camera to capture anyway; pests.

Slugs: The slug rings seem to work okay on the things I've put them on, which is a very small portion. They love strawberries. Heat spells seem to be the best thing for keeping slug populations down. Its turned rainy here again, of course, and they are a problem again. To my disappointment, the chickens don't seem to find them delicious. Every time I try to feed them one, they peck at them and then go around wiping their beaks on things in a grossed-out way.

Aphids: Not a huge problem yet. There was a pretty bad case on one of my kales, which I cut back and gave to the chickens. This was a hit. I was given the advice last year that aphids are a good sign that a plant is getting past its prime and its time to pull it out. I have changed this tactic slightly with kale and have started cutting it back severely. Kale is pretty tough and will come back from the stem several times in a year. I gave the buggy leaves to the chickens, which was a hit once they figured it out.

Ants: This one is kind of weird. It is normal to get aphids 'ranched' by ants, who move them around and feed on their sugary poop. However this year they have cut the middleman and have been attacking my potatoes and one of my sunflowers, sucking the sap out like little six-legged vampires. I haven't been able to find a reference for this happening online. I think it is the same species of ant that farms aphids and gets into houses. And holy crap, are there a lot of them this year. There is at least one nest in almost every garden bed, though only the potatoes in the one bed are getting hit. I'm not trying to do anything about it on the theory that a) these particular potatoes are volunteers from ones I planted two or three years ago, and b)I would much rather let them eat things I don't care for much than get into my other food, or, gods forfend, into the house.

Caterpillars: I think these are kind of cute, and there aren't enough of them to be a serious problem. Anyway, the chickens like them. I gave Medulla one yesterday, and they all played a prolonged game of Chicken Tag, over under and through every obstacle in the coop. It was hilarious.

In other entomological news, our compost bins are supporting several sparrow families this year. There are always at least three sparrows hanging out in or off the sides of the compost cage, mining grubs.