salad time in the city ...

sunday afternoon the sun came out just long enough for us to hesitate in lighting the grill but still pack up the girls and head off to the garden to see what had become of it since our trip to Belaruß. the gate creaked open, and the overgrown willow branches sprayed us with the raindrops of the previous day. the garden was an overgrown delight! beneath the nestles and the weeds, once we had our hands and our forks amongst the undergrowth we found early zucchini, a dozen heads of lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes, raspberries and gooseberries ... the herb garden of sage and rosemary, basil and lavender, mint and parsley were a delight! but where were the slugs that last year had cost us so many plants? not so many slugs this year. perhaps they got the message? I see our friend the mole is back in residence, and there is certainly a mouse of or two living amongst the compost... the only stain on the garden recently is the empty chicken coop which had housed four egg laying hens until some creature decided to snap them up. not a pretty sight when you go in search of eggs in the morning! girls mostly found nestles this afternoon ... they will go about without their gloves! bye! katrin