The Perils of Gardening

I hope I don't scare folks off with back-to-back days of precautionary tales, but I have to tell it like it is.

Behold, the Tomato Hornworm. This fellow was found yesterday, devouring the cherry tomato plant given to me by my grandparents. I had vague memories of such beasts in my grandparents garden when I was a kid (their dog, Muff, liked to eat them), but I wasn't sure if this was the same thing. So I snapped a picture and sent it off to my parents to take a look. Dad did some quick internet research for me and confirmed that it was indeed a Tomato Hornworm.

Lydia made a thorough search of our tomato pots, but found no other critters. With only 3 plants, I guess we are not a high-traffic garden!

So what to do with it? Dad said I had to kill it, but if you know me at all, you know I could do no such thing. No one in the house would touch it, and I didn't want to introduce pesticides into our garden. The only alternative I could think of was catch and release. I used my shears to clip off a small branch of the plant, and we put him in the front yard. This morning, he was gone. Maybe a bird found a juicy meal, maybe the Hornworm found greener pastures. Dad says I will find him right back in my garden. If so, I might just let him have it! That would be some impressive dedication!

For more info and some gruesome pictures check out this link. http://www.gardengrapevine.com/TomatoWorm.html