Someone’s been eating our kale…and it’s just about gone. We have a container garden on our deck. I’ve been amazed by how much we’ve been able to eat and enjoy from this experiment – lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, peas, beans, herbs, etc… Once the peas were done, we planted some kale and chard starts. It was all growing well, about 6 – 8 weeks in, until we noticed the leaves of the kale dissappearing. Take a look…
The reason we have the plants on our deck is because of our deer friends and other critters that live around the house. My daughter found a colorful caterpiller on the radishes one day and said “He (the caterpiller) can have the tops and we can have the bottoms. We need to share”. This was a very nice sentiment and acceptable because there was only critter. Of course the garden is organic (no spraying or funny stuff) so I suppose anyone is welcome.
But the kale was different. And why is this creature just have a taste for kale? What’s wrong with the beans and chard? My son went out and examined more closely and found the culprits. Many of them. Over 40! They are cute little looping caterpillars that blend right in to the kale leaves. My son was so proud and just kept pulling more and more off the plant. We decided on a relocation program to the park below our house. My son assured me it would take them a year to get back up to our house. We’ll see…
