(no subject)
I never thought I'd be one of those gardeners. The kind that can mercilessly squish bugs with their bare hands. Well, when the Japanese Beetles came in and started foraging through my beans, I didn't know exactly what they were. 3/8th inch long and looking like coppery lady bugs, how destructive could they be, right? Well....I would carefully scoop them off with admonitions that they needed to kindly move along. Then, there started to be ragged holes in my leaves. At that point I got upset but not angry. I would pluck them off with stern reprimands. Our beans could sustain quite a bit of damage and still have a good yield. Now...oh, no. No, no, no, no. They have actually made crop circle like divots in my tender young beans. The bean plants we coddled, beginning from seed. Buddy, let me tell you, you have just crossed the line. Notoriously hard to kill by natural means, we are now going the pesticide route. Sevin or Spectracide or Bayer Advanced, I don't care. But erradicated they will be. Today. Yesterday I found myself hovering over our garden, looking at a half dozen of them, merrily walking around, gnashing their way happily through our carefully tended crop. My brain started to sizzle and my inner Godfather came out. I took my thumb and told one that I hoped he enjoyed the leaf because this would be his last meal, prepare to meet his Maker. I left his mangled body as a sign, much like the severed horse head. Maybe his buddies will get the drift.