A New Game

Yesterday I was in the garden,pulling up my broccoli and lettuce that had bolted. As I walked past my green pepper plants,I saw a good sized pepper. It was the biggest I had ever grown,so I called Rick over to take a look and then I saw something I had never seen before clinging to a stalk:

Sorry this photo is so blurry.This was actually taken today on a tomato plant.

Yep,our first horn worm,or hookworm,or whatever you call it. Then I found our second one. The Girls found them delicious. I checked our tomato plants,but didn't see anymore.

Today I went out to plant some fall veggies. I don't know if they will grow or not, since I am late in doing so,but I figured I would give it shot. I planted spinach,lettuce,green beans,and butternut squash. My tomatoes needed to be staked further,so I grabbed some string and did some old Florida Weave (going behind and in front of the plants with the string to the left,then opposite on the way back). Lo and behold,there was another worm:

And another. And another. And another. I would look for these little suckers and one would be right in front of my face for 5 minutes before I saw it. How clever they are to blend right in with the tomato stalks!And how frustrating for me and Brother B. He was helping me look and every once in a while one of us would exclaim,"You little bastard! You were right in front of me!"Sneaky little suckers. I called Zach outside to take a look,and to take the photo above. He thought they were gross.

16 worms later,all looked OK in the tomato world. The Girls loved their noontime treat.

Now we have a new game-Find the Worm. He who finds the most wins tons of gratitude from the tomatoes and the chickens. :)