The garden was to be a family event, so I pretended to know what I was doing as the children helped me plant everything we could think of. Each day, we went out in the evening and looked around to find little green shoots popping up along the rows we had carefully formed.

We celebrated as the first blooms appeared on the tomato plants and squash. The first bell pepper was loudly announced. In short, the children were very excited about every little new thing in the garden.... except the yellow jackets!

It was so frustrating. We would come into the garden happy to look for blooms and little tomatoes and be run out rudely by a swarm of yellow jackets.

I am the first to admit that I am a wimp when it comes to yellow jackets. I am deathly afraid of them, to the point of hysteria. I do not even know why, except that one got caught up in my hair when I was young. I have been known to abandon moving vehicles if one got into the car. They would also come into the Church where they would land on the hair of the little, old ladies sitting in front of me. It freaked me out so badly that I would just get up and leave.

Anyway, here they were. Yellow jackets swarmed the garden every time we came in. I looked everywhere to find their nest and there was not one nearby. Finally, it dawned on me that they were swarming every time I came near the okra. Sure enough, they had built the most beautiful huge nest on the bottom of one of the large leaves.

I forced my husband to go get rid of them, but I never trusted another okra leaf again.

Learn more about this author, Karen Crumley.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about My unusual garden story about weeds or pests?
We want to hear your view. Write now!