Our modest little container garden is thriving. We’re FINALLY getting broccoli heads growing in, we have 3 different kinds of lettuce, two greenbean plants, a strawberry plant that keeps getting bigger and bigger, a lime tree brimming with limes, four sunflowers shooting up, several herbs, fresh spinach, and four pepper plants – one red, one yellow and one orange. We grew those from saving seeds from veggies we bought at the store  Peppers of the non-green variety are pretty expensive favorites here, so we’re happy at the prospect of growing our own!

It’s been a great experience for Shorty, a gentle introduction for nature study that has let him pick up a bunch of practical life skills and given us hours of enjoyment.  I know that gardening and nature study aren’t the same thing, but for a loud, hyper little boy who is all arms and legs and scares away wildlife because he gets so excited when he sees them that he can’t contain himself, studying plants and the cycle of agriculture has been a safe, non-scareable starting point for us We’re in the rainy season, too, so the tedious task of daily watering is no longer necessary, and our kindly neighbor has become inspired by our efforts and is donating the wood this weekend to build two actual 4′x4′ square foot garden containers. All is well!

Except that with summer and with rain come… mosquitoes. More bugs in general, but mosquitoes are the gift that keep on giving. They’re darn near acrobatic here; yesterday I doused my arms and legs in mosquito repellent and wore long pants. Somehow, i still ended up with mosquito bites on my ribcage and hip. I have no idea how that happened, but somehow they managed to bite me there. This doesn’t thrill me at all, because it’s a well known fact that here in Miami and any tropical region, mosquitoes carry evil diseases like the West Nile virus and our times call for a little indulgence of one’s germaphobia.  But even if they didn’t, they’re just a relentless pest that really acts as a killjoy for us whenever we try to hang out in our grassy garden.

We’ve tried carbonella candles and other mosquito repellents but they’re more persistent than the telemarketer that keeps calling me to tell me that the warranty on my car has expired. (My car is so old that if it were a person it would be eligible to vote, so thanks for the heads up, telemarketing people.) We even tried the little zapper lights, and, well, it bears repeating, this is SOUTH FLORIDA, so even if they killed 90% of the mosquitoes, that probably leaves about 23572752352 of them still alive.  I’ve been reading some Mosquito Magnet reviews – a friend of mine has one and swears by it. I was watching their little online demo of how it works and experiencing a high degree of schadenfreude at the mosquito genocide being demonstrated.  The price range is kind of steep, but if it means I can spend the next 5 months (and next summer, and next…) lounging around in my garden instead of just enjoying it from my window with my nose pressed to the glass, it might be a small price to pay.

Rain is clearing up! Time to check on the strawberries we transplanted yesterday; I can already see the newly thinned row of pepper seedlings are happy and pert. I’m already itchy from the stupid mosquito bites yesterday so I feel like a soldier going into battle. “Cover me with the spray repellent – I’m going in!!” Wish me luck.