Mantis Tiller - chop up those hornworm cocoons this fall!

As we were gathering the last of the tomatoes for canning, we went at it with gusto, confident that all the worms, bugs and caterpillars had taken wing in their new forms and gone on to greener pastures. But, soon enough, we were rubbing shoulders (no horns - I checked both ends) with this one.

Could be a late season hornworm since there can be two generations of them in a single year. And, there must be more than one in the GardenSnob garden because many tomatoes had that characteristic, quarter-sized bite shaved off of them. This one is a purple/brown/grey color, though, not the typical green, so we'll keep searching for its proper identity. We decided to leave this little guy on the tomato so it can mature into a moth. We have enough tomatoes and it would be really cool to see the giant 5-6" moth.

One way to stave off next year's hornworms is to till your garden this fall, keeping an eye out for the cocoons which are reddish brown. Make sure you crush, destroy, pulverize them. The Mantis tiller might be just the thing for this job. It's light and maneuverable and uses a dependable Honda engine.

I've only heard good things about them and am tempted to get one myself. Although it's more expensive, I recommend the one with the 4-cycle engine because it's easier to start and a lot quieter. On sale at Amazon for $448.82.

And now for the fun stuff. How could we mention something as disgusting as a tobacco worm without giving a visual? Here's a really gross video for all the worm lovers but especially my 7 & 8 year old nephews. It shows a pretty girl eating a large tobacco hornworm on a dare. This is as gross as it gets! Don't say I didn't warn you.

Hot Chick Eating Juicy Tomato Worm - The most popular videos are here

The hornworm has taken quite a beating this season so let's see it in its hummingbird moth form. Looks graceful enough and the flower sure is pretty.

(Photo courtesy of Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota)

Asian longhorned beetle

Alright, first it was the Mexican beetle, now it's one from China. Will everyone just keep their beetles to themselves? Maybe we have one that we can send abroad to visit. Here's an article about this relatively new invader from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

A tree-destroying beetle that was discovered in Worcester early this month may have been in the city at least five years earlier than federal officials estimated.

A local pest control owner, Geoff Ford, says a sample of the Asian longhorned beetle has been in his insect collection since 1997, when someone brought it to him to identify.

Federal officials estimated the beetle was in Worcester since 2002 after a scientist examined what appeared to be the most infested tree.

For more information and more pictures of the life cycle of this pest, visit the website of UVM's entomology research laboratory.

Suit accuses restaurant of giving man big tapeworm

To conclude our week of worms, bugs and other gross things, here's a story to read after eating dinner.

A man claims a restaurant served him a tapeworm in his food.

Franz's lawsuit seeks $100,000 from Shaw's and its parent company, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, contending the restaurant's staff was negligent in serving him improperly cooked fish.

But Carrol Symank, vice president of food safety for Lettuce Entertain You, said the tapeworm didn't come from Shaw's. "We have done a thorough investigation and we're confident the restaurant is not the source," he said.

According to the Web site mayoclinic.com, tapeworms can measure up to 50 feet long. (article from Associated Press)

So, what does a tapeworm look like?

According to www.MedFriendly.com, "adult tapeworms have hooks, spiny structures, or suckers on their head, which allow them to attach to the wall of the intestine. The rest of the tapeworm is made up of a chain of flat segments. In the human digestive system, tapeworms develop into an adult form with one or more sexual organs that are capable of producing eggs. Adult tapeworms can be 20 to 30 feet in length!"

Full read at AP

Praying Mantis Poster, Live Insects & Video

Now this is one cool looking insect. No stomach upset here. And they are beneficial for the garden by eating all the other bugs that eat your plants.

Here's a poster print by Pete Oxford. The 40 x 30 print is available at Amazon for $69.99.

But the real thing is even better. Buy 4 praying mantises or an egg out of which 500 baby mantises could emerge from www.livemantis.com.

But, wait, there's more. Check out this clip of a female eating a male after mating.

Gusanito Factory Worms Farm Bin and 1,000 Red Worms

Think you don't have enough room to farm? Think again. This worm farm measures 16" x 16" x 28". Hey, isn't that smaller than the average TV nowadays? Set it up right next to your trash can and compost pail in the kitchen. Or if you have one of those new, fancy kitchens and the trash can is a drawer in the cabinets, put the worm farm in the garage or basement or downstairs bathroom. Better yet, keep a small version under your desk at work. I'm not joking - people do this! This worm farm comes with coconut husk bedding to get you started. Find it at Amazon for $79.95.

And don't forget the worms! You can buy a pound of them from Amazon, too, for $39.95. 1,000 to 1,200 worms per pound. This certainly must be one of the stranger items for sale there.

Let's find some real pictures of those worms to keep the week's theme alive. Here's one from www.redwormcomposting.com, which has everything you need to know about composting with worms.

And here's another one from www.ourvitalearth.com, an online store with worm composting equipment.

Okay, that's enough. I've got the now familiar feeling in my stomach. Yuck.

Opening day at the blueberry farm

This is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year: opening day at the blueberry farm. This is a beautiful and secluded farm with approx. 3,500 blueberry bushes.

It has a designated handicap access row as well. We usually pick upwards of 30 lbs of berries every year for fresh eating, making jam and freezing for blueberry pies throughout the year. The blueberries were blue, crowds were few, and it wasn't even raining. The berries tasted great and we settled in for a few focused hours of picking and eating.

After a couple hours, we recognized another devotee who gave a stern warning: Watch out for maggots. WHAT!? Gross. Then he showed us a berry with a tiny hole

which, when opened, revealed a little, white, disgusting maggot.

For more on the blueberry maggot (or blueberry fruit fly), read this info from the U of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Yes, it was true. Blueberry day was ruined. We started to pick again, but slower now, and no eating handfuls of berries. Barely registering 10 lbs of fruit, we quietly headed home to sort through them all and put the safe ones in the freezer, calculating silently how many maggots we had eaten that morning.

The chickens, on the other hand, loved the rejects, probably wondering who could have thought of such a delectable treat as a blueberry sheathed worm. This had to be something specifically created for them.

Just when you think you've found a fool-proof, pest proof, disease proof enterprise, along comes a maggot to bring things to a sudden halt. Farming is a tough business. Dave, the vegetable and fruit farmer down the street, reported yesterday that his crops have been hailed on several times this year, lettuce is rotting in the field, tomatoes aren't ripening because there hasn't been enough sunshine, 5 acres of pumpkins which should contain 40,000 lbs of fruit have almost none, and bees aren't pollinating because it has been so rainy. And, worst of all, he can't wait for this year to be over. Support your local farmer! The least we can do is buy the stuff that is growing this year. Click here to find a farmer's market near you.

Rescue Japanese Beetle Trap for removing Japanese beetles

The zinnias looked beautiful until some Japanese Beetles set up camp on them. Notice their beautiful, metallic green and copper colored bodies and wings. Yup, them slugs got wings now.

They eat in between the veins of leaves, after which a lacy skeleton remains.

There are several options available to get rid of these pests - powder or spray insecticides, traps and hand picking.

The insecticides work, of course, but now you have chemicals in your garden and possibly on your food. In one study, the half life of a popular one, permethrin, was 17 days. This means that the chemical is still hanging around and not broken down 17 days after you apply it. To read more about permethrin, click here.

Beetle traps are another remedy. We use these with success and recommend them highly. Suspend them from your metal bird feeder hooks which are hanging around and not paying any rent all summer long.

Some people say they attract more beetles to your property but as long as you locate the traps 30 ft. away from the plants you are trying to protect, it should be okay. And your neighbors will love you for taking away their Japanese beetles, too. Click here to buy this trap for $6.66 from Amazon.

A third option if you don't have a huge infestation or a big garden, is to hand pick them off the plants. I did this and gave them to the chickens but the chickens just pecked at them and didn't eat them which gave the beetles time to fly right back to the flowers! Old timers will fill a coffee can with a little motor oil or kerosene and drop the beetles in. This kills them instantly and it's a great camp fire starter. No! I didn't say that. Just kidding. Use kindling and don't be so impatient.

How about a container filled 1/2 way with soapy water? A few drops of dish detergent will do the trick. This kills them and you don't have to worry about disposal. GardenSnob staffers pick them off and crush them swiftly with their shoes. This also kills them, adds valuable organic matter to the garden, and gives a distinct level of satisfaction to the do-it-yourselfer.

To read more

YUCK! The Tobacco Worm Strikes Again

WARNING: This is worm and bug week at GardenSnob. If you are grossed out easily, skip this blog for a few days and read your bank statement or local police blotter instead.

The tobacco worm has reared its ugly head again this summer. And I mean UGLY! This could easily turn a new gardener away from gardening AND tomatoes altogether.

These are some of the largest caterpillars found around here. They have a natural camouflage that would make any soldier envious and a red, pointy horn on one end. It's a little hard to tell which end it is because they seem to have eyes or a little face on both. (I hope no one says that about me, ever.) At some point, these things turn into hummingbird moths

which is the worm version of that old classic, The Ugly Duckling. (Photo: Jim Sedbrook)

The tobacco worm is hard to find even though they are so big because they are the exact same color green as tomato leaves. The best way to find them is to look for their droppings on the ground or on leaves or tomatoes. The droppings look like miniature green (fresh) or black (a few hours old) raspberries and they get bigger as the worm grows.

Here's the gardener's version of "Where's Waldo" to show you how difficult is it to find these worms. Try to find the worm in this photo:

Here it is, up close and personal:

Let's try another one. Where's Wormy?

That's right! He's biting into another leaf of the tomato plant you've planted, watered and staked with loving care all summer. Bastards!

Now the question is what to do with a tobacco worm once you've found one. I thought the chickens might like them so offered the first one to them.

But I was wrong. Then a goat stepped on it.

When I found the next tobacco worm, I started to get really mad and increasingly sick to my stomach. A website suggests snipping them in half with shears but there is no way I want to have that green blood on my clippers. Then I noticed the fire pit

and that was the end of that one.

With worm #3, I thought, "I must get revenge!", and a dirty, smelly light bulb went on in my head. To the pig pen!

At first they didn't notice it because I threw it over their heads. Oh, well, if they don't eat it , it will surely die of the stench. But then, oh yes, one of them poked it around with its big pink snout, gobbled it up, and smacked its lips. I am not joking about the lip smacking. And pigs are omnivores. You should have seen them fighting over a dried snake they found in some hay the other day. There certainly was a lot of lip smacking going on over that snake jerky. But, I digress . . .
Afterwards (after the cold beverage to settle my stomach), I felt a little badly about the harsh end for that worm and about all the plants that won't be pollinated by that future hummingbird moth. But worms #4, 5, 6 and 7 have all gone into the pig pen and the pigs now hop around with glee when I approach with a tomato branch and tobacco worm. I'm not joking about the hopping, either.

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