so, i killed living creatures today.
and it was horrible.
but what else was i supposed to do? i’m trying to garden organically here, so i couldn’t just spray them with some nasty chemical and let it kill them for me. and i needed to take drastic action because they had almost chowed my entire, once-thriving parsley plant.
so i killed them.
about 20 caterpillars and 4 snails.
i squashed the little caterpillars with a stick. the bigger ones i just couldn’t bring myself to squash. it would have been SO gross. so i drowned them. i confess it. i drowned caterpillars today. my boyfriend did point out to me that this was less humane than squashing them, but he wouldn’t do it either.
the way i tried to justify killing them in the first place was to think of myself as a real farmer, living in some rural area with no other source of food and no starke ayres nearby to just run off to to replace a plant eaten by pests. i was at war with these funny little creatures for my food.
anyway, i needed to confess that. and also i guess i want to ask if anyone has any more humane way to kill caterpillars which doesn’t involve squashing? i don’t think i can bear to see that oozy green pus come out of them… but i know drowning them was bad, bad, bad. i am going to pray for forgiveness later.
it’s tricky isn’t it… i’ve lost my fair share of edibles that way. interestingly, when i did the soil for life course (yeah, still planning to write about that one, ahem) – pat featherstone (who runs the course) had a completely different way of looking at pests. basically, what the bugs n slugs eat becomes instant plant food, so even if you lose your current crop, the next one will be even better because of all the extra nutrients provided by the bug crap. makes one look at locust swarms a little differently…
but, on the ground it sure ain’t easy to sit by and watch everything being chomped, so I guess the best way (if one had the optimum garden) is to have the birds and creatures that feed on those bugs.
time to get yourself some ducks, hahaha
or, maybe collect them and then feed them to ducks someplace, hmmm… (now i’m imagining a bug-collection service for free range chicken farms).
actually, there’s a little wasp that eats caterpillars – lays its eggs inside and then the larvae eat the still-living caterpillar from one end to the other (blech, i know) before eventually hatching and becoming new little caterpillar-munching wasplets.
gardening in a small space has its challenges! (good luck)
By: mothercityliving on July 31, 2008
at 11:38 am
Katie has a “snail graveyard” in the corner of our vegetable garden. ’nuff said.
(Though I don’t do the squishing myself… that’s just ugh!)
By: Peter MacRobert on July 31, 2008
at 11:59 pm
I like Pia’s idea of collecting them and feeding them to the ducks.
When we lived in the UK and had a slug problem at our allotment, I used to take the slugs home and feed them to our chickens. That felt okay, but when death was to be administered to the little blighters in another method, I left it to my husband.
By: tracystokes on August 1, 2008
at 10:00 am
pity my boyfriend is more sensitive than me when it comes to killing things. or bugs in general. actually, he is great with removing cockroaches. i will give him that.
if only my mom had been around. she has no skaam. she will even squash great big cutworms under her shoes. i dunno why it grosses me out so much. but it does. feeling all weird just typing about it.
i spose technically, the birds should be eating the caterpillars. and we do have birds in the garden. but the sneaky caterpillars seem to live in the pots just by the doors, i think maybe the birds are too cautious to come that close to the house?
anyone got any chickens or ducks who want a snack?
By: aspirantlocavore on August 1, 2008
at 10:22 am
i just got one of those suckers on my vulnerable lettuces today, and was reminded of this post. happily, i was able to throw it over the wall into someone else’s garden (shhh… don’t tell – they’re not growing vegetables so i figure they won’t mind/notice).
but, i just found something on the web that might be of interest as a last resort:
MARGARET ROBERT’S (DIPEL) BIOLOGICAL CATERPILLAR INSECTICIDE
A biological, natural insecticide approved for use in organic farming by OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute). Contains Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki. Used for the control of destructive leaf-eating larvae Lepidopterosus spp. (such as American boil worm, lily borer, semi-looper, cabbage caterpillars, orange-dog caterpillar and lawn caterpillar). No harmful toxic residues. No secondary poisoning. Harmless to bees, birds, fish, pets, wildlife, beneficial insects and natural predators. Can cause harm to young larvae of butterfly species, has no effects on adults. Avoid spraying onto plants visited by adult butterflies. Harvesting of edible crops directly after application.
found here: http://www.greenspace.co.za/index.php?menu=7
By: pia on August 9, 2008
at 10:19 pm
Here in the Pacific NW, large garden slugs seem to be our region’s official bug! They come in both spring & fall clusters.
So, if you don’t have enthusiastic kids to squish them, set out beer traps. Bury recycled food tins or pint size plastic cottage cheese containers in the dirt, up to the rim, fill halfway with flat & fermenting beer (2-3″) & let the pests drown.
By: kmc on August 25, 2008
at 9:01 pm
hey – thanks for all the comments and suggestions. seems the caterpillar problem has significantly decreased after the initial kill-a-thon. have found some smaller guys and squashed them…. only to discover my puppy coming along after me, licking the squished bodies off the ground! so now i just put them on the ground and he eats them! nice solution for me. maybe not so much for the caterpillars….
By: aspirantlocavore on August 25, 2008
at 9:13 pm