After work, I went to Home Depot to get Sluggo. They didn’t have Sluggo. They only had chemical warfare for slugs, so I went to Lowe’s where I found more chemical based treatments. Sluggo may be chemical, too, I don’t know because I never found a box to hold and read. But what I did find was Lowe’s has a great section of organic products for the garden. So I found a bag of organic slug killing pellets. And let’s just say that this was meant to be because as I was about to check out with my pellets, I saw a holey vine leaf that looked like my holey squash leaf and I asked the clerk what caused it. He touched it and a moth flew off! I have lawn moths! Not snails.
So the clerk then helped me find a bottle of Neem oil based insect repellant. When I got home, after saying hello to everyone, I got to work mixing the Neem with the water and spraying, and do you know what I found? I found a skinny slinky green worm! Eating one of the squash leaves. I doused it with the Neem solution. What the hey? There were also moths eating those leaves. Maybe that worm was a moth to be? I don’t know, but I’m still highly irritated over this whole situation. I sprayed all my plants. The corn has now gotten holes in it, the sweet potato vines, squash – all the veggie leaves have holes in them! For goodness sakes! Maybe I caught it in time with the Neem. But I’m taking the organic snail pellets back, and also the pump for spraying the “greenery,” which when I opened it smelled like gasoline. Funny enough, reading the bottom of the container, there is a sticker that on it is printed that the product contains ingredients known to cause cancer in California. And to wash your hands after using it. Ewwwkay! I put that lid back on that cancer causing jug, and tidied it up and put it back in the plastic Lowe’s bag as it is going back to Lowe’s. Can you imagine that? I washed my hands, and hope that was enough to detoxify myself. Yikes!
Well, now it’s a waiting game to see if I’ve been directed correctly to get these bugs gone! I’ll tell you what, after reading the Neem oil label and then the old Sevin label I have in the laundry room, well, that Sevin is scary! For one point, it says that it will kill bees. In order for squash to make babies, it has to be pollinated by the bees, so what good would spraying a plant that is going to kill the animals it needs to produce? And they give the OK to spray on veggie plants? Eeegads!
I think I’m obsessed with vegetable gardening. It’s like being a dog parent for the first time, but not as warm and fuzzy. I am trying to plan the next chess move in this game with the insects, fungus, etc. that’s out there. You know what? I think I’m going to call upon my local garden fairies for some help as well. That is something I haven’t done yet. I’ll ask Baby to help me, as I think she’s on a one-to-one relationship with some of them.
No visiting cat tonight. Just an obsessed vegetable gardener and her dogs.