New Crops, New Pests

Gardening is always an adventure. I like to try new plants and varieties. It is fun, but they always come with their own challenges. Even if I stick with the same varieties it seems I learn something new about them every year, or the weather throws me a curve to deal with.

This year the weather is throwing lots of and lots of rain. It is June and the garden is downright soggy. The tomatoes and peppers especially are suffering. Our soil is heavy clay, which I have learned can be a big help when the weather is dry. When the weather is wet it causes problems. That is this year's weather challenge.

This year we planted a few new things too. Among them are carrots. I was skeptical of trying carrots in this soil, but found a variety, Danvers Half Long, that produces shorter, stubbier carrots. They are supposed to do well in clay. I can't report on the success of this variety in our soil yet, but they did bring us our new pest of the year, the Parsley Caterpillar.

I was weeding the carrots the other day when I noticed that a few had been eaten significantly. It didn't take long to find the two little beasts that were enjoying my carrots. I didn't know what kind of caterpillar they were at first, but I do not know of any caterpillar that you want in the garden. The kids put one in a jar and I took care of the other one.

Later I googled to find out about them. I discovered that they are Parsley Caterpillars, the larvae of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. I felt a twinge of regret because Swallowtails really are beautiful. That feeling quickly passed as I realized that I would enjoy my carrots much more than some fleeting glances of a butterfly. So, they are going to just have to find some Queen Anne's lace out in the fields to feed on. Luckily they are pretty easy to control by simply pulling the caterpillars off, like you do with horn worms.

Of course every year the lessons learned from the previous years prepare me for the upcoming challenges. We picked the first two cucumbers today. They were so good, but I am diligently on the look out for those copper colored eggs of the squash bugs on the underside of my plants. A quick peak into my garden journal shows I first found them June 23 last year. I'm expecting them any time now.

Gardening always seems to be a learning experience filled with many challenges. I like a challenge. Though I could do without challenges, such as too much rain, which I am completely helpless to control. Wet weather and Parsley Caterpillars are my current challenges. What are you learning from your garden this year?

merri.morningstar