It's always a challenge to get the green beans picked. We enjoy eating green beans but neither Ed nor I like picking them. The other thing is that the beans are best picked when dry. Lately mornings have been too wet afternoons too darn hot, and so we put it off. I was worried about the beans being too big. Little did I know that lurking beneath the lovely green canopy of bean leaves, the big beans were being picked. They were being stored and used to form a ceiling for a nest of brown furry rodents.
We don't use chemicals here. I am used to eating basil with insect holes in the leaves, and trimming away the part of strawberries that have been eaten by birds or ants. I just wash whatever I bring in from the garden. I consider myself to be pretty much critter friendly. But the idea of eating beans that have beeen chewed on by a rodent, a country cousin to a rat, a vermin, takes me way outside my comfort zone. I've seen these furry brown creatures with their beady eyes and rat like tail. They cross the garden path in a flash and disappear among the plants. I think my EEEKs can be heard for miles.
After some discussion, Ed pulled the bean plants and discarded any beans with rodent chomps. The rest of the beans were well washed, and processed for the freezer. The bean plants have been pulled. This comfortable rodent abode has been razed.
That's not the end of it of course. Now that green bean season has come to an abrupt end, the cursed furry creatures will be lurking elsewhere in the garden. The hot weather has not been good for the beets. As you can see beets are also on the rodent menu. I know my limits. These beets will be left for the brown vermin. I don't like eating the leftovers of rodents. I will concede and leave the beets hoping it will keep the nasty little critters out of the rest of the garden. I think I'll remove the cage, and give predators a better shot at catching these unwelcome beet eating rodents.
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