On a recent evening, I washed dished and stared out the window. A cute grey squirrel climbed up a nearby tree limb, close enough that I could have touched it if not for the glass separating us.

It sat on the branch and proceeded to eat something. As I looked at the green thing it nibbled on, I realized what it was eating. That squirrel is eating one of my pea shoots!! That jerk!

I let out a screech and berated the squirrel loud enough that my husband got a rake out to scare the squirrel.

I’ve since learned squirrel are fans of gardens and young sprouts. I have lots of those in my garden, maybe a little too much, so maybe it will all work out.

I have noticed that my purple cauliflower plans are being attacked by something. Two almost done, two undamaged. If it’s a squirrel, I can’t really do much about it. I haven’t seen any insects around the plants, so I’m not sure what’s eating my purple cauliflower.

Besides inspecting and working on the garden, I’ve been researching and trying to find some help. Recently, I learned about a program for people who have started victory gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offered through the University of Florida Extension office, Victory 2020 Garden Community, offers tips for gardening, free seeds and activities for kids. Click here to get the details.

So far I’ve learned not to pick yellow leaves off your squash vines or you may expose the inside or veins of the vine to bacteria or insects.

I also learned that I have to take a little bit out of each day or every other day to keep the garden going.

On the garden front, I added some seeds and rows to the garden. I’ll have to add more once the new seeds come. I think the spring garden will be done by the time the new seeds sprout enough to take over the garden.

In a surprise, some celery I thought was dead has come back to life. It was in a random spot, under a tree in our garden. So after identifying it, I transplanted the celery to the garden. It looked like it died, but eventually started sprouting new stalks. I’m not sure what to do next — trim the dead stuff off or leave it.

Our area of North Carolina is frequently visited by gnats during the summer. They have already made an appearance in our garden. They’re not so annoying you can’t work, but you definitely notice them. So, I’ll start breaking out the buff if they start getting too annoying. I can always blame wearing it on CDC guidelines.

We’re starting to pick herbs and more strawberries from the garden. So far we’ve gotten four strawberries. Our orange mint — which is mint with a citrus aftertaste — is doing particularly well. It has some runners, and is already making it way to the neighboring square in the pallet garden.

As usual, I’m ending this photo gallery of images from weeks three and four.

  • Almost ready strawberries
  • Lettuce and unknown gourd plants
  • Strawberries picked my MK3
  • Baby carrots
  • Snapdragons
  • Yellowing on leaves could have several causes
  • Damaged cabbage or cauliflower