Written on December 1, 2009 at 5:53 pm by SusieJ

The Garlic and Turtles are Safely Planted

Filed under Gardening, Laugh, Life {5 comments}

Last weekend I cleaned up the garden, folded in some leaves to mulch the soil for next spring. Then, I pulled out the shovel and started planting my garlic – yes I know – should have been planted weeks ago, but life happens. While raking in the leaves, I noticed big white seeds – about the size of the Jack in the Beanstalk seeds.

This is exactly what they looked like — taken earlier.

jackinthebeanstalk

As I dug, I noticed more seeds, so I picked one up. These white things were not seeds. They were eggs. One egg had fallen under the blade of my shovel, and was opened. (I will not elaborate on this point — but just ask my kids — they’d love to tell you all about it.) Then, I realized that these were turtle eggs. I was standing in the midst of a huge turtle bed.

I quickly buried the baby turtle. “The garden is far, and uphill from the lake. Far from the lake,” is all I could think to myself as I worked. “Why did she climb all the way up here to plant her babies?”

The man who trimmed our trees two years ago said a large turtle snuck up on him. “That turtle could have taken the leg off on of your sons,” he said. He caught the turtle and threw her back into the lake.

Here’s a picture of the turtle. Yes, you can say it — she’s ugly, and she is armed and dangerous.

2009 06 12_0124

You can see her size by looking at my husband’s wrist. (Which is still attached to his arm.)

2009 06 12_0120

Now, her babies are buried throughout my garden — along with the garlic.

I’ll admit — I’m a bit nervous about planting next spring’s garden.

5 Comments

Rachel says:

December 1, 2009 at 7:16 pm

That is sooo cool! I hope you’ll post again if/when you see babies!
magpie says:

December 2, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Ack! That is kind of a large turtle.

How to Grow Even More Vegetables — Susiej says:

February 1, 2010 at 2:36 pm

[...] So, that exciting day when I planted my garlic last fall, I spread out more newspaper and leaves and expanded my garden. Still, I wanted more space, but I didn’t want the place to look like a farm. Since then, I’ve learned that the problem with garden space lies in the rows. Straight vegetable beds, with rows for walking, take valuable space away from the plants. For example, a traditional row garden of 13 square feet only provides 3 feet of plantable area (when factoring walkways) – a waste of 75 percent of the garden space. [...]
Mama is close by — Susiej says:

March 30, 2010 at 7:31 am

[...] — and I’ll find it first — as they ran outside. It appears that the mother of the turtle eggs in my garden has not strayed too far from the [...]
Chex Mix My Way — Susiej says:

January 12, 2011 at 8:15 am

[...] sitting in the produce section of the grocery store. (Imagine my surprise when I learned you could grow it yourself!) How hard is it to peel a sliver of garlic and add it to the recipe of whatever you are making? But [...]