Archive for August 12, 2011
Grow Your Own – Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na…
by John Weckerle
On Wednesday morning of this week, while harvesting yet more zucchini (as well as yellow squash, string beans, a couple of Roma tomatoes, and a gigantic bell pepper), your editor did the unusual and set his mini-pruners (great for cutting zucchini off the plant) on the ground, and left them there. Late that afternoon a few clouds appeared on the horizon, and it became clear that a trip to the garden to collect the nippers was in order. I moseyed on up to the bed of plenty, and noticed that the tomato plants looked much different than they had just that morning – a lot of leaves were missing, and some of the branches looked wilted on plants that had looked healthy just hours before. Given that we’ve all but critter-proofed the garden (it’s now completely covered with bird netting), such damage was hardly expected. I proceeded cautiously toward the tomatoes, ready for anything.
Suddenly, the whispering sound of leathery wings filled the air, and I froze in place. There could be only one thing that could have wreaked the havoc that lay before me…