Today I was visiting with a friend who lives completely on the other side of the county and she was telling me that their grasshoppers are almost gone. Maybe that means ours will be gone soon but they’re still here.
Stripped Leaf
Can you see the leaf on the fig tree that’s been stripped?
Chicken Snack
Found this one on the fig tree and he became a snack for the chickens. He was already missing part of a leg but now . . he’s gone.
Dehydrator
I guess it’s not enough that they’re eating my garden but this guy was apparently trying to get into the dehydrator to eat what I have in there. He became another snack for the chickens.
I took the pepper plants out of the greenhouse yesterday and am letting them get conditioned to the sun before sticking them out in the garden and I’ve checked on them several times and so far, the grasshoppers haven’t bothered them. One funny thing . . on my chili peppers, the grasshoppers aren’t bothering the green ones but the minute they turn red, the grasshoppers get them. I wonder if it’s the color that is attracting them. They doing a number on the okra but are mostly eating leaves and not bothering the okra pods so much. I guess that’s ok . . not much I can do about it because I won’t use any chemicals on the plants while I’m harvesting okra. I’m getting more than I need so I’ll leave them alone and let them feast on the okra leaves and hope they leave soon.
Deb K says
Oh, Judy. I know what you mean! They’ve stripped over half of the leaves off of my Meyer Lemon and Mexican Lime trees. I’m going to have very few limes or lemons this year. I’m wondering about putting up a bat house. Have you tried that?
Rose says
It’s true … everything IS bigger in Texas! Yes … surprisingly we do have grasshoppers here in NZ, but nowhere near as big or as plentiful … thank goodness 🙂