Silly me

I was under the laughable impression that colder weather would mean I didn't have to battle pests for a little while.

 

This morning I decided to take a close look at my backyard pea plants. I'd noticed some yellowing around the base of the plant, which was the beginning of the end for my peas last year. So I perched on the edge of my raised bed in a very unladylike squat and began peering through the leaves.

Aaaargh! The dreaded discovery of pest leavings!

I plucked off the worst bitten leaves to take a closer look... flipped one over... Can you see that tiny little green worm?

Hello, who do we have here?

I take great, and I suppose sadistic, pleasure in disposing of bad bugs. I have not arrived at the point where I can smile benevolently at these pests and acknowledge their place in the world. No sirree. We squish bugs at our house with fervor.

I'm still figuring out what I'm dealing with - cabbage worms, cutworms, or something like. In the meantime, I've sprayed Neem as thoroughly as I can, I'm going to go handpick bugs off of every leaf during the baby's nap, and then I'm going to consider cornmeal traps, DE and an investment in nematodes or something.

Let the battle begin!

In happier news, my broccoli plant is growing.  I'm determined to learn to grow things from seed, and so far most of the things I direct sow grow at a miserably slow pace.  But I can actually see progress in the broccoli and it makes me happy.