Although I was late planting my garden this year, it was coming along nicely. A perfect spring for lettuce, and kale, and all things green. I was ready to harvest, and was calculating how long it would last, and the dates I would re-plant (hot weather dependent) so that we would have salad greens for as much of the summer as possible.

As I was thinking about this, and staring out the back window at my garden that is marginally fenced with sticks and wobbly chicken wire, I noticed that something looked wrong. The chickens were inside the fence. Somehow I actually thought that if I ran out the back door (instead of walking), that I would somehow be able to salvage some of the garden.  But the chickens had made fast work of what had been growing for the last month, and seemed to be happy that I was letting them out of the fenced area that had nothing left to eat anyway.

So until I improve my fencing system and replant my greens, I will feel lucky that there are farmers’ markets two days a week in Champaign and Urbana, and I will be a much better shopper!