Things in my garden

We've actually been enjoying some cooler weather around here lately. We've had some much needed rain which has been good for our little garden unless you're a tomato. Apparently, too much moisture makes tomatoes burst open. We've had many visitors to our tomato plants this summer as well. My dad warned me that we might get some dreaded horn worms on the plants because they love tomatoes. He told me I would know it if they were there because of all the droppings they leave behind. I was all, "ew, catepillar poop? I would NEVER have that in my garden. I'm much too attentive to our plants needs."

Well, the day after we got back home from a trip to my parents house, I found this in the garden.



As soon as I saw all of the little, black circles dotting the garden I thought "LORD! Is that catepillar poop?"

Then I found these guys.



Horn worms. Disgusting. They look like small, green fetal puppies. My dad told me to smush them, but I can't smush something that big. There might be noises involved. Or fluids I'm not comfortable with. So, instead I brought them inside to show them to the kids. Then we kept them in a bowl for a couple days and tried to feed them. Then I asked Mike to relocate them to another part of the neighborhood.

This girl also lives on one of the tomato plants. I've always been scared of spiders but I let her stay because she's eating pesky flies. She has grown leaps and bounds since I first saw her out there.



I know my photographic skills are amazing. It's because I'm awesome.

Finally, we are being invaded by grasshoppers. So far, we are letting them live their lives in peace. I'm not sure what to do about them. They are also pooping all over the place. At first when I saw these guys I was all "Oh! How cute, that one is giving that other one a piggy back ride!"



But the more I think about it, the more certain I am that something altogether different was going on. I'm not sure the grasshoppers can stay. I don't think that's acceptable behavior to have in a garden frequented by small children. But how do I get rid of grasshoppers without spraying chemicals on them? I certainly can't smush them. Imagine the crunchy sound that would make!