Yuck!

There are countless joys and benefits to gardening. I'm sure I've touched on this before. Yet, sometimes, there are those times you just want to run away thinking, "Do I really have to do this?" Yesterday was one of those days. My container gardens under the deck were not looking so chipper. I decided I should aerate the soil a little and rearrange some of the plants. So, as I'm digging my fingers through the dirt, I find them, many of them- grub worms. Really, I'm not someone who is squeamish. I can deal with quite a lot of different things without getting all icked out, but grub worms are one of the things that turn my stomach. Really, there were A BUNCH of them. They ranged in size from fat, huge, about 1.5" to itty bitty ones. Yes, this was probably the cause of my sad looking container plants. C and B came right over as soon as I started popping them out of the pot, probably wondering what all the dry heaving was about. Good thing we're doing a unit on invertebrates. Here they are. Forget about an Usborne book. Anyhow, I explained to C that they must be eradicated. I usually let beneficial insects go on with their crawly lives, but these were not beneficial, and they were not getting that grace. (Of course when a Daddy Longlegs passed by, I quickly turned it into a "We do not need to kill ALL bugs" lesson.) So, I began to squish the grub worms, which just fully delighted C & B. They wanted their hand at bursting the little critters, too, a job I was overjoyed to pass on. C being the detailed oriented guy he is, was sure to get every last one of them. B was just there for the thrill of it all. So, hopefully now that they've been squashed out of my garden, my plants will be all the happier for it, and C and B apparently, too. And, no folks, I will not let them out to squash your grubs, too. ;)