highs and lows in the garden

The kids found some strawberries in the yard.  They were pretty pleased with themselves.  Picked them without asking and then ran inside to show off their treasure.

I also found my own treasures in the yard.  Tonight I made a soup featuring fennel and chard from my raised bed.  It turned out to be rather tasty.  And I was pleased that I made good on my desire to eat more veggies today.

In the harvesting though I ran into one of my arch nemeses: a wireworm (visible on the railing next to the bulb beneath the hole it was creating on the root.)  Wireworms are known to eat roots and stems.  Thank goodness it wasn't interested in the bulb or my dinner would have been blown....   

I wound up bagging it so I can take it to a garden pest talk over the weekend.  I am wondering if the slow growth in my raised beds is due to wireworm damage -- or just a general lack of sun and heat.