Garden update ... ssssssss

We've had seeds in the ground for nigh on eight weeks now.  We've been enjoying garden salads for three weeks or so.  I go out and pick every day or two, and the girls help wash it - leaf by leaf because there are always caterpillars or eggs on the undersides.  A few days ago this guy rode in on the romaine.

We've got a few more weeks of salads ahead, though they will be slightly less peppery as the heat has turned my arugula too bitter to eat.  No problem - I'll plant more in the fall!

In very exciting news, I spotted my first pea flower today.  I've read that this means that actual peas are in the offing (squee!).  I would have taken a photo for you, except when I was inspecting my pea bed, I found this guy lurking under the mulch.  Can you spot him?

That would be a snake.  His snout and beady eyes are peeping out from beneath the mulch at the center of the photo, just below the weed at the base of the pea plants.  It was a hot afternoon and I guess he wanted some shade. (Also, no, I did not get that close to the snake.  I took this with my telephoto lens - I was at least 10 feet away from that sucker).

I saw him and involuntarily shuddered.  By the time Jeremy got home, the sun had gone behind the clouds and he had slithered out.  We decided to de-mulch the garden to make it less inviting for snakes.  I will just have to get in there and weed every day, I guess.

It seems to be a summer for snakes around the neighborhood, though.  One was spotted earlier this week on the playground and I've heard at least one more report of a snake in the grass.  Our neighbors say they didn't see any the previous year.

Shudder.