flowers and garden pests

today was another beautiful one - 74 degrees and sunny. i rode my bike to the community garden and picked a bunch of kale to make chips. for those of you still waiting for spring, i thought i'd snap some flower shots.

i also took a picture of the harlequin beetles that have invaded our broccoli plants. these suckers will drain the life out of our plants and i don't know what to do about them. i tried killing one and couldn't do it. it fell on its back, kicked its legs and looked so frightened that i flipped him back over and let him go. maybe i'm not cut out for this gardening stuff after all.

to end on a positive note, i've spotted some spinach and pea sprouts in the home garden. aster and teeny tiny poppy plants are coming up on the window sill, and no one has gotten under the wire cages to eat the poppy seeds outside (knock on wood).