So I've been seeing aphids regularly on the purplehull peas and especially on the okra. I've been neeming and soaping them once a week or so and I noticed a big herd of them yesterday at lunch. Being in the upper 90s like it is most days in the garden, it's too hot to spray. It would be a classic case of the the cure being worse than the disease. So I made a mental note to end their little sap-sucking lives when I got home from work. As planned, Dr. Bronner and I went out there, and to my surprise, found five of these scary-looking little monsters. I was about to give it the flick-of-banishment when I realized what they were. They're ladybugs. You may not know this, but before they're the cute little bugs you'd let walk all over your hand, they look more like alien alligators. Each one of these eats 300-400 of those damn aphids a day. I opted not to spray, so the ladybugs could eat to their heart's content. So the aphids got a reprieve...hehe. I wish I could be there and had a tiny microphone to hear their screams of abject terror when they see this six-legged eating machine coming their way. Oh how sweet it is.
