Strawberry Fields Forever

We actually got to harvest something from the garden... a miracle for us. I think it was because I stayed far away from the strawberry patch and let CJ (aka Monkey #3) take care of it on his own. He was delighted to find a lovely red strawberry ripe for the pickin', which he ate immediately and declared "dee-wish-ous!"

I went to Home Depot and asked their "garden specialist" about fire ants in the vegetable garden. He handed me a bag of Amdro.

I handed it back and said, "You can't put that on a vegetable garden!"

He looked surprised and then read the back of the bag. "Oh, you're right," he said. Then, after much thought, he announced that there was no hope for us and all we can do is sacrifice the veggies, kill the ants by dumping this poison all over the soil, and start over.

I repeated, "I don't want this stuff on my soil!"

"It's okay as long as you don't have food growing in it yet," he insisted.

I asked, "What about insecticidal soap, orange oil, stuff like that?"

"That won't work at all," he huffed dismissively.

Finally, I gave up and fled, leaving the so-called "specialist" far behind.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for using these poisons in the right places at the right times. But did that "expert" really believe that the soil was somehow going to magically purge itself of chemicals once the crops started growing? Here, kids, have some hydramethylnon... it's highly toxic and a probable carcinogen, so eat up!