Insects don't respect private property

But then, that is a good thing. Insects come in all variety of loveliness and weirdness. Take the earwig, for example. Slithery and wicked looking, it's really not all that bad. Yes, it eats a few leaves, but the secret is just grow enough for everyone. They have particularly liked the turnip leaves, which are holy, and the roots, which are tasty (to both human and insect) and have little burrows in them.

A (or some) squash bug, or a pack rat, or a Magpie has been eating the pumpkins. When I thought it was a squash bug I sprayed a solution of baking soda, olive oil and soap on the pumpkins, which seems to have slowed down the invasion. We have about 14 pumpkins, enough for us and the neighbors, and the neighbors' neighbors.

Nothing seems to bother the cantaloupe, as of yet. They are as hard as rocks. Four little watermelon are doing well. The yellow squash plant bit the dust. No idea why. Pulled up a potato plant to see the progress. Two or three egg size potatoes with four or five tiny potatoes.

My great niece, Tai, is here visiting with her dad, my nephew, Donald, and his wife, Nga. Tai is a tiny harvester of peas. Her first day here she also pulled up a perfect little carrot. We washed it and she started munching. A delight to watch her eat that carrot.

Speaking of munching. I also found a bite out of a zucchini with teeth marks. Wasn't sure what it was, but the mystery may be solved. Donald had rat poison in his engine compartment because in Borrego Springs, Calif. where they live, pack rats get in the engine compartment and make nests. After they arrived at our house, they smelled something foul. A dead pack rat was discovered curled up in a corner where Donald had the poison. So, they brought poison all this way to kill a tiny Washington pack rat that had collected dog food, dog feces, grass, a pea pod, leaves and sticks in a matter of two days...and then died. R.I.P. little pack rat. I wouldn't have killed you. I would have let you have a pumpkin all to yourself.