Bugs!

Today we found tomato horn worms, potato bugs, and stripped cucumber beetles in the garden. Campers were pretty amazed by the giant green caterpillar with a large 'horn' at one end. Horn worms really are pretty amazing creatures. But they sure can eat up a tomato plant in no time! The potato bugs were eating up the eggplant. Which I guess is all they could find since there are no potatoes planted in the garden this year. We squished these and left them in the garden because squished potato bugs scare away other potato bugs (smart bugs!).

One camper was concerned that we were killing something that is a part of nature. This is, of course, and important consideration. The first thing I reminded the campers of was that the string beans they had been chomping on were just as alive only a few moments before. Secondly, potato bugs are not a native insect and they eat a crop that we are trying to grow. If we (humans) were not interfering in the natural system at all, our garden plot would still be old growth forest. Instead it was once cleared for pasture, and we opened it up for a garden. We have killed trees, and grass, and weeds, and all the bugs, bacteria, and other creatures that lived on them so that we could plant crops that will feed us. To keep these plants alive, it often takes more killing: insects, weeds, and diseases. Eventually, we will decide to kill our crops so we can eat them. Farming and gardening, whether you are raising crops or livestock, always involves having to kill something. It is the circle of life that enables us all to eat.

All of this said, I do not take killing lightly in the garden. That camper was right, those little bugs are alive. I know that it is my own desires (for tomatoes and eggplant) that make it so he can't live or I can't eat. These are the choices made every day, by every farmer. What is important, I believe, is that we think about the choices we are making, we think about that bug, and his life, and recognize that him getting squished helps me to eat, and for this be respectful and grateful.

Water and Weeds

This year has been rather dry, so the weeds have not have been as voracious as in typical years. Instead we have had to put a lot of energy into watering the garden. The best time of day to water the garden is in the early morning or evening. During the heat of the day a lot of the water evaporates before it can reach the plant roots, making it a waste of resources. If you have no choice but to water during the day (as is often the case here at camp, where our campers are only here in the middle of the day) it is important to be sure that only the soil gets watered and not the leaves of the plants. Not only is water wasted because plants don’t drink through their leaves, but getting wet during the heat of the day can actually hurt the plants. Plants breath and “sweat” through pores on their leaves called stomata. In the heat of the day they need to be able to do both of these things to ensure that they do not overheat. Wet leaves keep them from being able to do this, and can cause the leaves to look “burned.” So when the campers are watering we do our best to encourage them to aim for the soil, where the roots of the plants can drink it all up.

Eat the Rainbow

Colorful foods contain more nutrients. It’s true. The more colorful things you eat, the more vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients you will get. Our garden is full of color this year, but many of our vegetables are not the standard colors that you think of for those foods. This year our string beans are purple and yellow, our carrots are red on the outside and orange in the center, our tomatoes are purple, orange, and red, and our cucumbers are a lemony yellow variety. So many colors to help you eat the rainbow!