The forecast was sunny and HOT for the next few days, so on Friday I took advantage of the relatively cool morning to do some garden cleanup. First I did something I’ve seen in my neighbour’s summer squash patch – I pruned out some of the leaves. I have no idea if this is a recommended practice, but I wanted to get rid of the leaves that were showing a white coating. It’s way too soon for that! Anyway, it let in more light and I found two zucchinis we had missed the evening before, so there’s obviously some value to it.
Next I pulled out the pea vines since they were spent. I’m embarrassed about that pea patch. It was sown far too tightly, and grew too tall. I missed pods because I couldn’t find them after the vines fell over. Next year I will not plant a double row, and I will add a trellis in spite of what the seed catalogue says.
As I put the vines in the wheelbarrow to take them to the compost bunker, I saw some fur. Not cottontail fur. This had to be vole fur. I pulled the vines apart and discovered I had pulled up a nest. Those peas were definitely planted too close together!
