And to every season there is a squash vine borer moth, one of which I chanced to have happened upon in the garden yesterday afternoon.
Every other bug in the area I'll go after with a vengeance and flip into cups of soapy water or utter my best EG redneck battle cry and squish their guts out, but the SVB moth forces me to recognize that I may not, as a matter of fact, be at the top of the food chain.
I have four hills of zucchini all squished in together where it's almost impossible to check each and every leaf stalk for svb eggs, and four hills of squash which wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit if the pests infected those good for nothing plants who haven't given me one squash yet. It would serve them right, but still too many and too close together to dig through with any success. I still have a long, long time before damage is noted to the point of needing to rip out the plants. Last year, the plants were heavily infested and still trucked right along, but it's the principle of the matter. They've dared touch what's mine.
And when the time comes and I do rip out the plants either on my own time frame or theirs, I will delight in splitting the stems and then listening to their pathetic please for help as I dispatch them as well. YeeeHaaaaaw!
I hate curcurbit pests... they seem to be from another planet the way they reproduce!
ReplyDeleteWhat you need are some box turtles :) I felt very vindicated feeding those larvae to my turtles after they destroyed my plants last year. The turtles just ate 'em right up. Didn't help my zucchini or squash production, but I think I felt better :) Good luck with your squishing!
ReplyDeleteEwe, the dreaded bastardly borers.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA...I love it. Death to all would be pests! Sometimes I wish I had chickens. It's one thing to be stepped on or cut in half with scissors (my favorite form of execution) and it's another thing to be eaten alive. The latter just sounds much more gruesome.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a problem with squash vine borers last year, so I had to search google images for a picture. Ew yuck!! Slaughter those suckers, girl! Have no mercy!!
ReplyDeleteConfronting the "messenger of death to all cucurbits" for the first time is pretty eery, isn't it? They are pretty quick! I didn't know there was an EG battle cry. Ha!
ReplyDeleteWell, you're much kinder to bad bugs than I am. If they are too large to be squished between my fingers, they go into a container and get mutilated in the garbage disposal.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! I'm with Thomas on this one. Eaten alive by chickens sounds like a nasty way to go. Perfected for SVBs...
ReplyDeleteYa, I noticed my first one for the season the other day! Those suckers are hard to catch too. They are fast flyers! Grrrr! I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find my Benny Hill music yesterday so I chose not to chase the moth around lest I look to my neighbors like I was chasing demons.
ReplyDeleteGranny, you may just have EG beat with the disposal. That's impressive. Please tell me you hold them by the hind leg while you slowly lower them down into the running disposal. Very impressive.
See, guys! It's just one more reason in favor of owning chickens.
I so hate the SWB. I hate them so much. For winter squash I only grow C. moschata because it is resistant, but for summer squash you have to have zucchini. I just hope they produce a ton before they die.
ReplyDeleteThey really already have produced more than I would have dreamed. I have 7-8 cups frozen in the freezer and we're eating them fresh daily. Now if the squash would just start keeping up. I think I have one that I can pick tomorrow. Maybe I'll have a party with favors and everything and it may just encourage more to grow.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking I need to start some yellow squash so if the bugs or powdery mildew gets to the zucchs we'll still have Paris, or something like that.
ReplyDelete