Farmhands

The garden has, once again, gotten away from me. Weeds and pests abound and I just can't bring myself to spend more than 5 minutes out there since this heatwave started.

This morning's 5 minutes were spent watering the tomatoes (I think I have an issue with blossom end rot, so I've dissolved calcium pills* in some water. It can't hurt and just might help). I did a double-take when I saw this tomato hornworm and it's hitchhikers.

These are the coccoons of braconid wasps. These tiny wasps lay their eggs inside the hornworms; the larva hatch and eat the caterpillar's insides (almost makes you feel sorry for the beggar). The wasps are tiny and don't bother people.

And luckily for me, they don't mind heat and humidity. At least, someone is working in the garden!

*I had stocked up on calcium pills on sale and now don't take it anymore. If this works, I'll feel good that I've found a use for them!

V

It's started already.

We've been at Woodchuck Acres for 10 years, for the past several we've seen no larger vermin than carpenter bees and the occasional mouse. Now it seems the word has spread that we're leaving.

First I started seeing squirrels in the yard. A chipmunk keeps appearing on the deck, peering in the glass doors. A cottontail has taken up residence in the yard. Woodchucks have burrowed under the goat barn. And crows are pecking at the lawn.

I'm sure to most people these are not signs for alarm. For a gardener, they're trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for PESTS.

It's like a horror movie only with furry, adorable invaders.