Footprint Seven: The enemy is out there!

I guess the honeymoon period is over.  Sigh.  The past few days have been interesting.  I wonder what communication system there is amongst insects?  Clearly the word has gone out that this particular little garden has some scrumptious yummies growing in it.

The worm bin:

I am meticulous about not putting anything animal in the worm bin, except for egg shells.  No meat, no dairy, cooked or uncooked.  In theory this ensures no maggots.  Not true!  I discovered maggots in the bottom working tray.  They must have fallen through from the upper working tray, which is where all the feeding is happening at the moment.  For the past couple of days, every so often I have gone outside and fished out maggots.  There must have been over 50!  I think that they are all gone now.  I fished the last one out this morning.  I think it was dead.  I have added more fruit, but will now be very careful to cover the fruit with damp newspaper.  Hopefully that will prevent fruit flies from breeding in there.

The carrots:

This morning I found two rather large garden snails in one of the pots with carrots in it.  These two snails had mown down most of the carrots in the pot.  When I looked carefully at these snails, which up until yesterday had seemed fairly harmless, their shells looked like army helmets.  Interesting how one's perspective changes dependent on the scenario.  I fished them out and put them in amongst the scurvy weed.  They are welcome to consume all of the scurvy weed.  Judging from the number of snail shells that I find when I clear a pot of scurvy weed, it is popular with snails, if not beneficial.  I wonder if someone would rent me a duck or two to eat all the snails in my garden?

The radishes:

Something has laid thousands of tiny black eggs on the leaves.  When I say tiny, they are barely discernible with the naked eye [well certainly my naked eye - I can barely see without my glasses :)].  When these tiny black eggs hatch, the smallest little yellow caterpillars emerge.  However small these little caterpillars are, they are voracious eaters.  Almost overnight, the leaves on the radishes disappeared.  I sprayed them with a spray made up of washing liquid and water.  This does not seem to have been effective.  I have removed all the leaves with evidence of caterpillars or eggs, and will check later today to see whether the radishes are now caterpillar free.  I do have some nasturtiums growing, so perhaps I will try nasturtium tea, and see if that will help.

The mustard: 

One whole mustard plant has simply disappeared.  There are skinny little stalks protruding from the ground.  I looked really, really hard but can't see anything that could have devoured the leaves.  I notice rather large holes in the leaves of several of the other mustard plants as well.  The good news is that they must be tasty.  Hope I get to try them before they are all snacked away.